To Use or Not To Use
by mischieflover
Summary: Rebeka Aarons gets more than she bargained for when she gets involved with one of the Sons of Ipswich. ReidxOC. i know this summary isn't much, but the story is better, i promise. PLEASE RR!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer****: I don't own squat from the Covenant… although if I **_**did…**_

**PLEASE RR! This is my first one for the Covenant, so tell me what you think!**

**-**

Rebeka checked her schedule again. "English," she muttered to herself. It was on the other side of the school. She sighed, and walked quickly through the busy halls of Spenser High School.

Rebeka's parents had divorced when she was eight. Her mother had gotten custody and they had moved down the coast to North Carolina. The divorce, no matter how many times she'd said 'it was for the best', had hurt her mother, Barb. They didn't have a lot of money, having spent much of it on the lawyers. They lived in a rundown condo, and mostly lived off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Once Rebeka was fifteen, she got a job as a waitress in a small bar, to help pay for the schooling at the public school. The job didn't pay much. Her mother worked two jobs – one during the day as a janitor at the elementary school, and the other at night as a bartender at the same bar Rebeka worked at after school.

Many nights, Barb would come home late from the bar, drunk, to forget about their dismal situation. Sometimes she would yell, blaming Rebeka's father, Tom. Rebeka would go quietly into the bedroom and shut the door to block out the screams. Other nights, Barb would cry – cry for Tom, for the life they had lost. Those nights, Rebeka would comfort her mother as Barb sobbed long into the night.

Rebeka was seventeen when Barb died in a car crash. The police said alcohol and excessive speed were involved.

Rebeka was sent to live with her father, who lived in Massachusetts, in the historic Ipswich colony.

Tom Aarons had done better than they had. He set himself up in the real estate business and made enough money to live comfortably in a large townhouse outside of town. He could afford to send Rebeka to Spenser for her senior year.

Rebeka stepped into the English class. The many-tiered levels, while they weren't so shocking anymore, were still intimidating. The professor greeted her kindly and pointed her to an empty seat. She climbed up the stairs and sat in her aisle seat. The boy next to her was talking to another boy. When Rebeka sat down, the dark-haired boy smiled warmly at her. Rebeka smiled nervously back.

"I'm Caleb Danvers," he said, holding out his hand. He had kind brown eyes, and was very cute, Rebeka decided.

"Rebeka Aarons," she replied, taking his hand. It was warm and smooth.

"Oh, the Aarons' kid," said the boy next to Caleb. He had shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and a brilliant smile. Rebeka wondered why she had never seen these boys before; it wasn't like the town was big, and they would stand out in a crowd.

"That's me."

The boy elbowed Caleb out of the way and extended a hand. "Pogue Parry."

Rebeka shook his hand. "Pogue? That's an unusual name."

"Hand-me-down from some great-great ancestor." He shrugged.

"Alright everyone, welcome to the start of the new school year." The professor waited until the class settled down. He turned to the small chalkboard behind him. "This semester, we will be studying the works of Aldous Huxley, Kurt Vonnegut, and George Orwell." He scrawled the names on the board.

"Oink, oink!" someone called out.

The professor sighed as if this happened regularly. "Yes, very good Mr. Garwin. We will be studying _Animal Farm_." Caleb put his head in his hands.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Rebeka walked through the town to her father's work. She smiled at the woman behind the front desk. "Hello Allison."

"Hi Rebeka. Your father's almost done with his last meeting."

Rebeka sat down in the hard chair against the wall. Fifteen minutes later, she heard Tom Aarons' voice saying goodbye to his latest clients. He spotted Rebeka. "Hey Beka, let me go get my things and we'll go."

Rebeka threw her bag in the back seat, and climbed into the front.

"So, how's your first day at Spenser?" Tom asked, glancing at her as they drove down the country roads, leaves swirling behind them in their wake.

"Fine. I met some nice boys today." Tom raised his eyebrows. "As in they said 'hi' to the new girl, Dad." Rebeka rolled her eyes.

Tom visibly relaxed. Rebeka wouldn't say that Tom was a strict or prying parent. She knew he meant well, but he was pretty much out of his depths when it came to mentally nurturing his seventeen-and-a-half-year-old daughter – there were just some things he couldn't understand. "Who're these boys?" he asked, trying to keep up the interested father role.

"One was Caleb Danvers, and the other was Pogue Parry."

"Ah," said her father knowingly.

" 'Ah'? What's 'Ah'?"

"Oh, nothing. They're good kids; don't get into much trouble. There are four of them, actually. The other two are from the Garwin and Simms families.

"You say that like they're some kind of gang," Rebeka remarked.

Tom laughed. "Well, you could say that. But it wouldn't be the gangs like you see on TV or in the movies. No, these boys are good. Known as the Sons of Ipswich."

"Nice gang name."

"They're descendants of the original Ipswich families that settled the colony in the sixteen hundreds," Tom explained. They pulled up to the house and got out of the car. "So, any plans for tonight?" Tom asked as he unlocked the door. They stepped into the house and Rebeka headed to the stairs.

"I don't know; didn't really have plans."

"Well, I was thinking, you don't really hang out with kids your age –"

"I've only lived here for a couple months," Rebeka pointed out.

"I know. Say, why don't you go to Nicky's? That's where all the other students are, I hear."

Rebeka nodded. "Alright, I'll check it out; I can tell you want me out of the house." She smirked.

"No, not at all!"

"Right. Well, next time Dad, don't write your dates with _Sandra_ on the calendar. I mean, anyone can see them!" She winked and ran upstairs to her bedroom as her father reddened.

Rebeka closed the door and dropped her bag on the floor. She crossed to her dresser and pulled various drawers open. She ruffled through them, searching. Spenser was fine, but the uniforms were going to drive her nuts.

She pulled a pair of light blue jeans on, and threw her uniform skirt to the floor in a heap along with the rest of the uniform. She chose a plain black tank top; it was practically skin tight, and it showed off the form of her body nicely. She pulled her strawberry-blonde hair back into a simple pony tail, giving her a slightly sporty look.

Rebeka went back downstairs and found her father in the kitchen. Tom raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on his daughter's appearance. "Why don't you grab a quick bite before we go?"

"Okay." Rebeka went to the stainless steel refrigerator and took out some turkey and mayonnaise. She slapped some turkey on a mayonnaise-covered slice of bread, and then covered it with another slice of bread. She finished her sandwich in ten bites. Her father pulled on his nice black jacket and ushered Rebeka out to the car.

"So, ground rules," Tom began as they entered town. Rebeka groaned. "Beka, I'm serious. No drinking, no… other stuff…"

"Yes sir," Rebeka intoned mockingly. "Don't worry, I don't do that stuff," she added more seriously.

The car pulled up in front of Nicky's. Rebeka thought it looked much like the bar she had worked at in North Carolina. But the similarities ended at the physical appearance. She waved to her dad as drove away and entered the bar.

The slightly smoky atmosphere was alive with the din of the many patrons – most of which were indeed students from the school. Rebeka walked through the throng of moving bodies to a clear space near some small wooden tables on the other side of the pool tables.

A hand fell on her shoulder, and she stiffened. Memories of the many drunks that had tried to hit on her in North Carolina flashed in her head. "Hey," said a familiar voice. She turned.

"Caleb!" she said, relieved. She let him lead her to a couple of tables that were grouped together in the corner. There were two girls and Pogue already sitting there. "Hi Pogue." Pogue waved.

"Rebeka, I'd like to introduce these two lovely ladies: Sarah –" A blonde girl smiled and waved. "—and Kate." The other girl with dark hair and skin waved cheerfully. "Girls, this is Rebeka Aarons." Caleb sat down next to Sarah and gestured for Rebeka to make herself comfortable in one of the open chairs. Caleb wrapped an arm around Sarah, and, almost simultaneously, Pogue did the same to Kate.

_Damn,_ Rebeka thought.

"Reid and Tyler hustling pool?" Pogue asked. Caleb rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Are those two the other half of the Sons of Ipswich?" Rebeka asked. Caleb and Pogue smiled. "My dad told me," she added.

"Yeah, they are. You can see them over there." Pogue pointed to the nearest pool table where a blonde-haired boy and a brown-haired boy were leaning nonchalantly on their pool sticks. A curly-haired boy took a shot and missed. The blonde smirked. He walked around the table and made a show of aiming. Then he shot.

Rebeka gasped. "What's wrong?" Caleb asked.

Rebeka pinched the bridge of her nose. "Uh, nothing. Headache." Her eyes wandered over to the pool table again. The blonde aimed again, and took a shot. A sharp pain shot through Rebeka's head again. She held her head in her hands and tried to ignore the noise of the bar.

"Rebeka?" She was vaguely aware of Caleb leaning towards her. The pain stabbed again, and black spots began to bloom in her vision, obscuring parts of the table in front of her. Caleb's voice seemed very far away. "Get Reid and Tyler. We need to get her out of here."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: sadly, I don't own the Covenant. Damn.**

**PLEASE RR!! C'mon guys, you can't put this on alert and not review; it's, like, illegal – or it should be… please rr!**

**-**

Rebeka felt strong arms lift her out of her chair. The stabbing pain had mercifully stopped, but her head was still throbbing horribly. She cracked one eye open and saw that Caleb was carrying her out of the bar the back way. Sarah hurried ahead and pushed the door open.

The cool breeze of the night helped clear her head. Caleb set her down on a crate of empty bottles. Rebeka leaned her head back and closed her eyes, letting the cold of the brick wall behind her seep in and smother the fire in her head. She exhaled heavily. "I'm sorry," she whispered pathetically.

Caleb shook his head, even though her eyes were closed. "It happens, don't worry about it."

Rebeka grimaced. Nice first impression she was making for the famous Sons of Ipswich. She walks into a bar, and is carried out of it without even touching a drink. She opened her eyes slowly, and the scenery stayed still and whole, the black spots were gone. Six people were grouped around her; she sure knew how to draw a crowd. Some damsel in distress she was. There were two faces she didn't completely recognize. They were the blonde-haired boy and the brown-haired boy from the pool table. All of them looked worried that she was going to have another attack. "Hey, thanks for the help. I think I'm going to head home now," she said, forgetting that her dad was out on a date. Rebeka climbed unsteadily to her feet. She held onto the wall to steady herself. The blonde boy smirked. Rebeka didn't particularly like the way he was looking at her. She lurched past him and to her intense embarrassment, lost her balance and fell into him.

"Whoa, careful there, Fainting Beauty," the boy said, holding her up. Rebeka scowled.

"Reid, take her home," Caleb ordered, much to Rebeka's dismay. Reid smirked again and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I can walk on my own, thanks," Rebeka said, not caring if it sounded rude. She shook his arm off. Cocky rich boy.

"Okay, okay, don't get so defensive." He stopped in front of a giant black tank parked in the street. It had the word 'HUMMER' displayed in shiny chrome across the grille. "What's the matter?"

Rebeka stared at it. "You want me to get into that thing?" It looked like it was going to eat her. The metal grille seemed to be smiling rather menacingly, proving her point.

Reid raised an eyebrow. "Well, either that or you walk home." He opened her door.

"I choose life, if it's all the same to you." Rebeka turned around and began to walk down the sidewalk. Reid's hand snagged her wrist and he pulled her back, stuffing her into the mechanical monster. He walked to the driver's side and climbed in, producing a set of keys, seemingly, out of nowhere. The Hummer roared to life, and Reid gunned the beast down the road that led out of town.

Reid broke the silence after a bit. "I'm Reid Garwin, by the way. And it's a pleasure to be of service tonight." He smirked and glanced at her.

Rebeka was ready to knock that smirk off his face. "So I gathered. Rebeka Aarons," she added, not wanting to be a complete jerk. But he was making that hard. "My house is on the left here." Reid pulled sharply into the driveway and rolled up to the house. Rebeka reached into her pocket for her keys. "Damn it!" There was nothing there.

"Something wrong?" Reid asked innocently.

"Forgot my keys," Rebeka grumbled.

"Hey, no worries. I'm good at picking locks." Rebeka stared at him, and then shook her head.

"Alright Houdini, go work some magic." Rebeka hopped out. Reid stared after her for a moment, shocked. But he recovered quickly, getting out after her. No, there was no way she could know. That was just a weird coincidence. He walked up to the door where Rebeka was waiting. He knelt down, turning away from her, and extracted a pocket knife, and inserted the smallest blade into the key hole, wiggling it around a bit. That was for show. Reid's eyes flashed, fiery rings ,beginning in his pupils, expanded rapidly outward until they disappeared.

"Ow!" Rebeka exclaimed, staggering a bit. She held a hand to her head, as if trying to push the pain back. "Not again," she muttered.

Reid looked at her, concerned. "Hm, let's get you inside before you hurt yourself any more." He opened the door, and caught her as she tripped blindly over the threshold. "Does this happen often?" He helped her to a chair.

"No, this is a first." The latest pain was now a dull throbbing in her forehead. She looked at Reid, who was leaning against the wall, watching her. "Ruined your night, didn't I?"

Reid shrugged. "You only saved Aaron Abbot from being dominated yet again.

"Thanks for taking me home."

"My pleasure." He smirked. Rebeka scowled. Was there no other facial expression available for him? Reid pushed himself off the wall and went to the door. "Later then."

"Bye." He left. Rebeka sighed. What an ass. But he was an ass she wouldn't mind getting to know more.

There was a knock on the door. "Ugh." She went to get the door. "Reid," she said as she opened the door, "I – oh."

The boy smiled. "I don't know about a Reid, but I'm Chase Collins. Uh, my car broke down a little ways up the road; and wouldn't you know it, my phone's dead. Could I use your phone?"

"Yeah, it's in the kitchen. Come in." She stepped back and let him in.

"Thank you," he said as he followed her into the kitchen. He smiled, but she didn't see the flash of brilliantly white teeth this time. She would have been thankful she didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the boys, as much as I'd like to… only Rebeka and her family – I'm not complaining… oh who am I kidding! pouts **

**PLEASE RR – you love me, and you know it, so you want to review! Can't escape solid logic guys… :)**

**-**

Reid's pocket vibrated. He grabbed his phone and glanced at the caller ID. "Don't worry, Baby Boy, she's still in one piece."

"Reid, when are you going to get your own car? It's not like you don't have the money," Tyler complained.

Reid made a face. "When you stop being such a baby, Baby Boy," he shot back. He hung up and floored the gas, the roar echoing through the otherwise silent night.

XXX

Rebeka leaned against the counter. "How old are you? Shouldn't you know how to fix a car?"

Chase smiled. "Not much I can do about an empty fuel tank. I'm nineteen." He spun the phone around on the table instead of calling anyone.

Rebeka raised an eyebrow. "Really? I would've pegged you as upper twenties. No offense," she added. "You just look much older than nineteen."

"I'll take that as a compliment, I guess," Chase laughed. He continued to play with the phone.

"Need a phone book?"

He smiled, and Rebeka shivered suddenly. "My car didn't break down – I don't even have a car here." He stared at the whirling phone. "I've been watching you, Rebeka Aarons." Rebeka stood stock still. Chase continued, not noticing her reaction. "You've attracted the attention of a certain Son of Ipswich. The one who happens to be a crucial part in my… plan." He looked at her suddenly, and his eyes seemed to shimmer oddly. "Volatile, rebellious; he won't be able to control himself."

"What, Reid?" Her voice sounded unnaturally high, the rising fear constricting her throat. "He's not interested in me – I don't even like the guy!" Her voice impossibly shot up another octave. There was something terribly wrong with this guy. She wished involuntarily that Reid hadn't left. Chase smirked. Rebeka blinked. His eyes seemed to have turned black, but that wasn't right. They couldn't be. The light from the fluorescent bulbs made his eyes flash abnormally. They were jet black, she couldn't mistake it now. "Jesus Christ!"

Chase moved around the island and Rebeka backed away, stumbling as her foot caught on a chair. "Welcome to Ipswich, baby!" he crowed, closing in on her. Rebeka felt behind her and found a hard object. She hurled it at Chase's face. The vase shattered, but didn't leave a scratch on him. Rebeka reached the hall and turned, making a mad dash for the door. She wrenched it open and ran full throttle through the opening. Just before she slammed it shut, she saw Chase standing in the hall, just before he disappeared in a smoky haze.

XXX

Reid's phone buzzed. He let off the gas a fraction and pulled out his phone again, glancing at the caller ID before groaning. "I –"

"Reid you need to meet us at the colony house now," Caleb commanded.

"I didn't do it!" he exploded, immediately on the defensive when he heard Caleb's underlying message. "Why are you always blaming me?!" Reid jerked the wheel and made a two-wheeled U-turn.

"Well someone's using, Reid, and the rest of us are here." Caleb always stayed calm.

Reid didn't. "I'm pretty fucking sure it isn't me!"

Caleb was silent on the other end. "Reid, get here now," he said quietly. When Caleb used that tone, something big was happening. Last time it had been when Chase Collins had tried to steal his Power when he Ascended.

Suppose it _was_ Chase again. Nobody had found his body. But it couldn't be. From what Caleb said, he'd sent Chase Downstairs where he belonged for good.

There was a movement on the right. Reid flicked the high beams on. "Holy shit!" A figure crashed to the ground in front of the Hummer. Reid slammed on the brakes, screeching along the pavement to a halt. He opened the door cautiously and peered around the front of the enormous black SUV. With a jolt, he recognized the strawberry-blonde hair. "Rebeka!"

Reid bent down next to her and turned her over. Blood obscured the left side of her face where she had hit the roadway. Her arms were scraped up and down, covered with dirt and blood. She moaned. "Rebeka! Can you hear me?"

Her eyes flew open, startling him. She struggled for a moment before realizing that it was Reid. "He's after me, you have to help me!" She mumbled frantically, incoherently, clinging to Reid's shirt.

"What? Who's after you?" He brushed her bloodied hair out of her face.

"Black eyes… midnight…" Rebeka whimpered deliriously.

Reid tensed. Black eyes? And it sure as hell wasn't any of the Sons. Which meant… "Fuck!" he shouted. He scooped the frightened girl into his arms and shoved her as gently and quickly as possible into the front seat. He climbed in next to her, grabbing his phone as he shut the door and flattened the gas pedal to the floor. He hit the speed dial button for Caleb's phone.

"Where –"

"Shit, man, it's him! It's Chase; it's gotta be! 'Cause it wasn't any of us," Reid interrupted, trying to multitask between driving, talking to Caleb, and comforting Rebeka, who was still clutching him desperately.

"How do you know?" Reid could tell Caleb was struggling to stay under control.

"He found Rebeka. I don't know what happened; she just keeps talking about 'black eyes'. Almost hit her coming back." The Hummer swerved as Reid lost concentration. "I'm coming as fast as I can!"

"Let's hope it's fast enough, if he's after her." Caleb hung up. Reid let his phone drop to the seat. He glanced worriedly at Rebeka.

"… black eyes…"

--

_A/N: sorry if anyone is offended or whatever by the cussing, but it had to be done. i'll try to keep it limited though._


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own them all!!! Muwahahahaha!! What? Ok, fine, I don't.****But**** don't make me say it again.**

**PLEASE RR, you know you want to. Besides, it makes me feel all happy – help me out here!**

**-**

Rebeka ran through the night. She didn't know if she was dreaming or not, and didn't care. She only knew that she had to get away.

_Something isn't right here; what kind of place is this?!_ Rebeka sprinted down the road, kicking up fallen leaves and dirt. Adrenaline coursed through her body. Glittering black eyes danced around her. They had a faint glow around them that seemed to intensify, blinding her with every step. _ I can't see – he caught me!_ Her foot sunk in a pothole and she lost her balance; her momentum flung her to the ground. The blinding orbs in front of her screeched like a demon from Hell. She could hear the roaring of the fiery pits. _Oh god, please just end it._

"Rebeka!" Arms turned her over. Her body ached; she could feel the dirt stinging in her cuts. The left side of the face felt wet and warm, as did her arms. She moaned. "Rebeka! Can you hear me?"

She wrenched her eyes open. He'd caught up! She struggled with all her strength against him. Her eyes flashed to his face involuntarily, fearing that the glittering black eyes would stare maliciously back at her.

It was Reid! She abruptly changed her actions, clinging to him instead of pushing him away. She had to warn him. "He's after me, you have to help me!" It came out garbled and barely coherent. She was surprised he'd even heard, much less understood her.

"What? Who's after you?" She felt him brush away her matted and sticky hair from her bloody face.

She tried, oh how she tried, to make sense. But what she had seen Chase turn into had driven her to her wit's end. "Black eyes… midnight…" she whimpered. She felt Reid stiffen.

"Fuck!" he shouted, startling her. She felt the air rush past her as he lifted and carried her toward the roaring. Rebeka realized belatedly that the noise and blinding eyes was actually the Hummer. Rebeka knew Reid was trying to be gentle as he put her in the vehicle, but it still hurt badly.

Reid climbed in next to her and she clutched him with renewed urgency. Reid was talking, but not to her. "Shit, man, it's him! It's Chase; it's gotta be! 'Cause it wasn't any of us!" There was a short pause. "He found Rebeka. I don't know what happened; she just keeps talking about 'black eyes'. Almost hit her coming back."

Rebeka realized how crazy she must have sounded. But Reid had said his name – Chase. He must not think she was completely nuts – it sounded like he knew what she was talking about. The Hummer jerked alarmingly. "I'm coming as fast as I can!" Reid heatedly reassured whoever he was talking to. There was a soft thump. Reid put his arm carefully around her shoulders. It hurt like no other, but she needed human contact – and having Reid there felt exactly right.

"… black eyes…" If she hadn't been so frightened, she would have been frustrated that nonsensical phrases kept finding their way out. She knew that she sounded crazy, but she was running on autopilot now, praying silently to whoever was listening that Reid would understand.

"… others now." Rebeka became aware that Reid was now talking to her. "We'll help you, just hang in there."

The Hummer slowed and stopped. Reid opened his door. He helped Rebeka slide out. Her knees gave out. Reid picked her up and gently cradled her in his arms as he walked up through the overgrown yard to the Danvers' colony house. He kicked the door open and stepped in, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the gloom.

There were no lights on, but Reid knew where everyone was. He walked down the stone steps, the faint candle glow getting brighter as he went.

Someone heard him coming. "Reid?" Who else would it be, Caleb? Tyler poked his head around the corner. His mouth dropped open when he saw Rebeka.

Reid came into view of the others and sat down on the stone ledge that was his. Pogue's eyes widened as Rebeka's bloody face glistened sickeningly in the flicker candle light. Caleb ran a hand over his face, like he always did when he was stressed. Reid adjusted her so she was seated on his lap, her head resting on his shoulder. She still hadn't released her grip on his shirt.

"Has she told you what happened?" Caleb asked.

Reid shook his head. "Hasn't said a word since I found her, not anything I can make out, at least."

"You sure it's him, man?" Pogue asked, still staring at Rebeka.

"Who else would it be?"

"But…" Tyler tried to deny the unpleasant reality that was staring him in the face. "… you destroyed him, Caleb…"

Caleb ran a hand through his hair agitatedly. "There was no sign of him left, but he was very powerful, having taken his father's Power too." It was silent after he finished talking.

"Why her?" Tyler asked quietly, breaking the heavy silence. No one answered him.

Reid snapped suddenly. "It doesn't make any sense! Why would he come back? Caleb and Pogue have both Ascended, and I Ascend in a week! We're stronger, aren't we?" The candles flickered dangerously, and several went out. Reid's bright blue eyes changed to flat black in an instant. A strange wind blew down the stairs, further disturbing the candle light.

Rebeka's eyes flew open. She writhed in pain, falling to the solid stone floor. The pain wasn't stabbing pangs now; it was a persistent torture, like thousands of needles sticking her without being withdrawn. There was no escape, no reprieve. Her mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own the boys, or sarah and kate while we're at it… but the others you don't recognize (like Rebeka) are all miiiiiiiinnnnnne!**

**PLEASE RR!! You love me, you know you do! RR!!**

**-**

"Reid!" Caleb sounded close. Reid slowly looked at him. He saw, in a detached uncaring way, Caleb kneeling on the ground next to him. In his arms, Rebeka was curled in the fetal position, squirming like she was in extreme pain.

That snapped him out of it. His blue eyes returned, and the candles stopped flickering; the strange wind stopped blowing down the stairs. He couldn't look away from her pale, tortured face. "Rebeka?" Reid knelt down and took her gently from Caleb. She lay exhausted and unmoving in his arms. He looked back at the others, looking at Caleb last. "What happened?"

Caleb shook his head. "By the looks of it, when someone uses, she… gets physically hurt."

"That's crazy," Tyler said quietly.

"Our _lives_ are crazy," Pogue pointed out. Tyler nodded.

"So, tonight at Nicky's…" Reid trailed off.

"She could have passed out because you were using while playing pool." Caleb looked pointedly at Reid.

"Shit." No one could use around her without causing her some serious pain. Rebeka stirred, and Reid looked at her. "How are you feeling?" Rebeka shook her head experimentally, and winced. "That good, huh?"

Rebeka rolled her eyes. "Ow," she mumbled as the motion shot painfully through her head. Reid chuckled softly, and then smiled. A genuine smile! He was _beautiful_ when he smiled. When he smirked, she could tell that he was hiding something behind the arrogance, some emotion he didn't want the world to see.

Rebeka asked something that she had noticed vaguely in the car. "You know him? Chase?"

Reid smile slowly faded. He glanced at the others.

"Let's go get some fresh air," Caleb said before Reid could open his mouth. He led the way back up through the deserted house and out to the cars.

Rebeka leaned heavily against Reid, and waited expectantly when they came to a stop beside the parked cars. When no one said anything, she prompted them. "Well? Who is he?"

Next to her, Reid opened his mouth, but Caleb cut in. "He was a student at Spenser, but he was expelled for… fighting." He looked at the other boys, as if daring them to disagree. Pogue sighed, looking at the ground. Tyler stared obliquely at Caleb. Reid only glared.

"Can't imagine who would want to fight him, with those crazy-demonic eyes." Rebeka shuddered, and Reid instinctively put his arms around her. Rebeka smiled to herself. "I should get home before my dad calls the cops. Although when he sees the broken vase…"

"I'll take you home again," Reid promised. He opened the Hummer door for her, ignoring Tyler's scowl. "I'll be right back." He shut the door and walked back to Caleb. "Why did you lie?" he hissed. "She should know what Chase is capable of! We can't use around her to protect her, but Chase will because he won't care!"

"Are we feeling something for the girl now, Playboy?" Pogue smiled mischievously.

"Shut up," Reid snarled.

"Take her home Reid. Don't tell her anything." Caleb turned and walked to his car.

Reid stalked back to the Hummer. He slammed his door shut and threw the tank in reverse. "The one time I want to do the right thing," he muttered. "But _noooo_, Danvers' gotta have his way…" His fist clenched on the seat beside him. Rebeka covered his fist with her hand, and he looked at her, his anger disappearing rapidly. He'd been around girls all his life (surrounded by them, usually) and none had ever had the effect on him that Rebeka did.

Pogue had said that Reid had feelings for Rebeka. But… playboys didn't have feelings for girls; besides the normal ones… they just went from one girl to the next. Was it because they were somehow connected through the Power that he felt such a strong need to protect her?

"Reid?" Rebeka brought him out of his spiraling questions. "I remembered something Chase said… about you."

Reid tensed. What had he told her? Rebeka rubbed her thumb across his knuckles soothingly. "What did he say?" Reid asked in a strained voice.

"Uh," she hesitated, caught off-guard by his intense response. "Well, he didn't, uh, mention you specifically, but I think he was talking about you…" Reid carefully stared out the windshield, trying to stay under control. "He – he said I had attracted the attention of a Son of Ipswich, the one that was the 'key to his plan'." She held her hands up and made air quotes.

Reid sighed disgustedly. "Because I'm next," he muttered. Rebeka gave him a questioning look. He saw it, and then frowned, turning back to the road, shaking his head. "Caleb and his rules," he mumbled angrily.

"So forget Caleb and his rules," Rebeka said unexpectedly. "What's got you so worried about this Chase guy? Besides the obvious. It's four against one, right?" Something was holding him back against his will, and it angered her as well as him.

"It's not that easy, Rebeka."

Rebeka looked at him. They pulled into the driveway for the second time that night. Rebeka's father still wasn't home. Reid looked at her. She sighed, "Why not?"

Reid shook his head. "Because… because Caleb's an idiot! Chase isn't a normal guy, and you need to know what he's capable of, if he's going to try to get you to get to me." He pounded the steering wheel with his fists. "But it won't happen," he said with a confidence both of them could see through.

Rebeka took both his face in both of her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Tell me."

Reid hesitated. Her dark green eyes stared deep into him, seeming to try to dissect his soul or something. Reid shifted, and took a breath, surprising her as well as himself. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. "Just in case you run from me screaming," he explained after a breathless moment. "Okay, I'll tell you what is so wrong with Chase Collins. Caleb's gonna kill me…"


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: as sad as it is, I don't own the boys or any other characters that you recognize from the movie, only Rebeka is mine, and any others you don't know.**

**PLEASE RR! Please? I'm on my knees people!... alright, that's overkill, but please review!**

-

Rebeka was shocked. He'd actually kissed her! But why would she run screaming? She brought herself back to the present when he began to speak.

"Remember what Chase did?" Reid asked. Rebeka shivered and nodded. "Well, what Caleb said was sort of true. Chase fought… dirty. God, this isn't going to make any sense." He looked apologetically at Rebeka.

"That's alright. I'll keep up as best I can," she reassured him.

Reid smiled, and Rebeka felt her heart skip a beat. "Well, I need to know something first. What exactly did he do to you?" Rebeka looked hesitant. "Hey, don't worry about sounding crazy or something; what I'm about to explain would land me in a nut house." He took her hand left hand in his right one.

Rebeka concentrated on their hands as she spoke, and tried not to remember what Chase had looked like. "He asked to use the phone because his car broke down." Her voice was lifeless as she tried to stay detached from the memory. "We talked – he seemed nice enough. And then he started to creep me out. He – he said he'd been watching me. And then the whole thing about attracting a Son of Ipswich…" She looked fearfully at Reid. She couldn't keep the emotion out of her voice now. "And – and then his eyes… they turned… _black_. But – but that didn't really happen, right? It's… it's not possible…" She trailed off to a whisper.

Reid pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. This was going to be much harder if she didn't want to believe. Worst-case scenario: he would have to use to get her to believe him. And that choice was off-limits due to the pain it would cause her. _Unless,_ he amended, _she point-blank refuses to believe me. It'll hurt me to have to hurt her, but she needs to know._

Rebeka sighed worriedly when he didn't say anything. "I'm crazy, aren't I?"

"No!" Reid nearly shouted, his head whipping up to look at her. "No, definitely not," he said a bit quieter. He sighed. "Rebeka, what you saw was real – the eyes, everything."

She looked at him uncomprehendingly. "What?"

"There were actually five families that settled her in the sixteen hundreds, not four. Chase is a descendent of the fifth family."

Rebeka blinked. "So, he's a Son too? Like you and the others?"

Reid nodded. "After a while, our ancestors were accused of witchcraft. It really kind of started the whole purge-the-earth-of-witches thing here. Some people were drowned, or crushed to death; mostly they were burned at the stake… uh, you get the idea. There's actually a grain of truth to some of the accusations, although the majority of them were false. Chase's ancestors, along with mine and Caleb's and Pogue's and Tyler's, were actual witches. The original families formed a Covenant of Silence to protect the Power and the bloodlines." Reid paused to see how Rebeka was holding up. _Well, she hasn't run yet. I guess I'll take that as a good sign._ She was looking at him, but her expression was difficult to read. He went on, "The Power is passed down to the next 'heir', which is the first born male. And, well obviously, we've survived."

Rebeka looked back down at their hands again. She was silent. Reid could feel the oppressive silence beginning to weigh heavily. She looked up, and then she finally spoke. "You're... serious." Reid nodded. "You have this… this Power? What does it do – what do you do with it?"

Reid sighed inwardly, relieved; she seemed to accept what he'd said. "Well, I guess it's like Harry Potter without the wands. Only," he smirked, "Harry Potter can kiss my ass." Rebeka smiled weakly. Then Reid's face became more serious. "There's something else you have to know about Chase and his family. They betrayed the Covenant, broke the silence. But, up until last year at least, we thought that his bloodline had ended generations ago with the betrayal. Then Chase showed up, and, well…" Reid shrugged. "All this happened, and you got caught in the middle like Sarah did the first time around."

Rebeka thought for a minute. "So, that's why his eyes are black? Because he's bad – his family betrayed the others?"

Reid chuckled. "Uh, no, that comes standard."

"But your eyes aren't black now."

"They turn black when we use the Power," Reid explained.

Rebeka bit her lip. "Show me."

Reid shook his head. "I can't." He looked away from her, making an effort to keep the frustration of the situation under control.

"Caleb say you can't? I can handle it; you won't scare me because I know it's you." Rebeka tried to sound more confident than she felt. Reid, it seemed, brought out a side of her she rarely ever saw – a self-assured, more reckless side.

"I can't," he repeated. Rebeka looked out the side window, away from him. "It's not Caleb's fault this time. It will hurt you, Rebeka. I can't do that." He reached under her chin and turned her so she would look at him. His blue eyes seemed radiate an intense sincerity of his concern for her safety.

Rebeka was touched that he cared so much. But she had always been stubborn. "You won't hurt me, Reid. I know you that well, at least."

"It's not that I'll lose control." He sighed. "Tonight you've been having weird headaches, right?" She nodded. "Well, the Power has been the cause of that. At Nicky's, it was because I was using to beat Abbot at pool. Then Chase must have hurt you. The last episode was my fault too, and that time I lost control," he admitted.

Rebeka's mouth formed a little 'o' as she understood. Then her forehead wrinkled. "But Chase didn't hurt me. I was just scared out of my wits."

Reid cocked his head. "That's odd. Well, we can figure it out later, because we've been sitting in the car for ages, and your dad is bound to come home soon." Rebeka shrugged. "And you're covered in blood," he added. Rebeka's eyes widened and she jumped out of the Hummer. She started to go up to the house, and then she turned back to the Hummer. Reid stuck his head out the window. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have a key."

Reid laughed. "Okay, I'm coming."

They walked up to the house together and came to a stop at the door. "Wait a minute," Rebeka said. "My head hurt when you opened the door last time. Did you…?"

Reid grimaced. "Sorry. I don't know how to pick locks, and we didn't know the Power affected you like that yet."

Rebeka smile mischievously. "That's alright. Now I can see it in action." Reid shook his head and faced the door. Rebeka leaned closer so she could see the transformation that had terrified her so much before.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Star light, star bright, can't I own the boys for just one night?!**

**PLEASE RR!! I love it when I get on and I see ten more reviews – let's up that numba!**

-

"Ready?" Reid asked. Rebeka nodded nervously, watching his eyes closely.

If she had blinked, she would have missed it. Fiery circles flared in his blue eyes as they flashed black for an instant. Right on cue, the pain shot through her head. "Ow!" She grabbed the doorframe to keep from falling over.

Reid took her arm to steady her. "Sorry. I did it as fast as I could." He opened the door and followed her in.

"It's okay, it's gone now." Rebeka walked past the kitchen and turned into the bathroom. She flicked on the light and gasped. She hadn't known the extent of the mess. Dried blood caked the left side of her face, making her hair sticky. Her left arm was scratched all the way up, and the blood was drying there as well. Her jeans were covered in dirt and random streaks of blood; she would have to get rid of them. Her tank top, on the other hand, was thankfully black – nothing a spin through the wash couldn't take care of.

"Anything I can do?" Reid leaned against the wall, studying her as she examined the damage.

"I think it looks worse that it really is. If I clean myself up and change, it shouldn't be too bad. Dad shouldn't notice." Rebeka took a towel from the cupboard and ran a corner of it under the sink faucet. She tenderly rubbed at the blood on her arm, wincing as she went over the cuts. She glanced at Reid. "Thanks for, well, everything; telling me, helping me…"

Reid smiled and nodded. "No problem. You needed to know."

"I hope Caleb doesn't kill you; I like having you around."

"It's my irresistible charm."

Rebeka rolled her eyes. "I'm sure that's it." She hissed sharply. "God this stings."

Reid watched her sadly as she wiped the side of her face. He glanced out the little window that faced down the street. A pair of headlights shown suddenly as a car turned the corner. "I'd better leave in case that's your dad; Tyler's Hummer is kind of conspicuous." Rebeka frowned, her shoulders slumping. Reid grinned at her reaction. "Nicky's tomorrow night?"

"Definitely."

Reid dipped his head politely, bringing a hand to an invisible hat brim. "I'll pick you up at seven, then."

"Sounds good." Rebeka looked out the window, turning back to Reid quickly. "That looks like my dad's car; you better hurry." Reid nodded, and nearly ran down the short hall. Rebeka stuck her head out of the doorway. "Seven!" Reid waved a hand in acknowledgement before he closed the door. Rebeka heard the Hummer roar as Reid turned the key and backed on to the road. She could barely see the jet-black SUV leave; only the fading rumble and a dim glint from the approaching headlights on the bumper gave it away.

Rebeka grabbed the now-bloody towel and dashed upstairs, ignoring her sore legs. She closed the door to her bedroom and quickly stripped her ruined jeans off, throwing them in a pile with the towel. An irregular purple color caught her eye. The side of her left thigh was one big, blossoming bruise. She groaned; at least it was getting colder now, so wearing shorts or skirts was out of the question. Rebeka carefully took off her tank top, hissing between her teeth as the fabric pulled at the rough skin around her cuts. She tossed the top in the dirty laundry pile. Rebeka heard the door open and close downstairs. She quickly pulled on her pajamas – a pair of old sweatpants and a holey long-sleeved t-shirt – and went downstairs to greet her father before she went to bed.

She found Tom in the kitchen, but stopped short when she saw a young brunette sipping a glass of water.

Tom turned around when the unlucky floorboard squeaked. "Oh, you're home! I thought you'd still be out. Uh, Rebeka, this is Sandra; Sandra, this is my daughter Rebeka." He pointed to the respective females.

Sandra held out a manicured hand. "Hi Rebeka. Your father's told me so much about you – I feel like I know you already!"

Rebeka shook her hand quickly, unsure of what to say. She was about to leave the kitchen when Tom called her back. "Rebeka! Tell me about your night; did you have a good time?" Now it was time to play the interested father, was it? Rebeka knew he was most likely doing it to impress Sandra with his parenting skills.

"Yeah, it was nice. Caleb and Pogue were there with their girlfriends, so I hung out with them. I met Reid and Tyler too." She wisely decided a detailed description of what really happened wasn't necessary.

"Garwin and Simms, right? Any of them catch your interest?" Rebeka couldn't believe he was asking her this in front of his date.

She shrugged, avoiding the question. It didn't help the situation that Reid appeared in her mind's eye.

"Are you okay, Beka? You look… different."

Why did he have to be observant tonight? "I'm fine," she lied cheerfully. "It's probably just the light. I'm gonna hit the sack. 'Night Dad. Nice to meet you," she added to Sandra. She rushed back through the living room and up the stairs into her room. It was almost ten o'clock. She wasn't really tired, but there was nothing better to do while Tom's date was going on down stairs.

Rebeka carefully slipped in between the sheets. A shaft of moonlight snuck between the curtains, illuminating a small strip of the bed sheets. Her mind began to race with the information she had received recently.

Reid and the other Sons had some kind of Harry Potter-like Power. She'd seen it at work multiple times, even if she didn't know what it was. Chase was out to get her, to get to Reid, for unknown reasons. Her dad was also dating a woman half his age, but that was insignificant compared to what else had come to light.

Oh, yeah. And she was pretty sure she had fallen hard for Reid Garwin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: nope, I still don't own them, but one-sided negotiations are in the works :)**

**PLEASE RR!! Thank you to everyone who has given me all those awesome reviews so far**** – keep on reading and reviewing!**

-

"Ready?" Reid asked. Although Rebeka had sounded confident, he knew she was nervous. He couldn't blame her; after seeing Chase use to scare her (and Reid was reasonably sure that he only did it to freak her out and not to hurt her, at least not yet), he knew it was probably a bit of a shock finding out that him and the others had the same cursed ability.

Her eyes were fixed on his as she nodded. Reid concentrated on the lock, and the Power tingled in his body, knowing it was about to be used. He let his eyes flash and he could feel the release of Power as the door unlocked. He cut off the flow of Power quickly.

"Ow!" Rebeka nearly fell over. Reid held on to her relatively uninjured right arm to steady her. He frowned; he didn't like the way the Power affected her, and he just knew something bad was going to happen because of it.

"Sorry. I did it as fast as I could." Reid opened the door and followed her inside, releasing her arm once she had made it in.

"It's okay, it's gone now," she reassured him. He followed her down the short hall, past the kitchen, into a spacious bathroom. He heard her sharp intake of breath as she saw herself in the mirror for the first time that night since Chase found her.

Reid leaned against a convenient wall and watched her, almost protectively, as she assessed the damage. Rebeka gently touched her face, then her arms. "Anything I can do to help?" he asked quietly.

Rebeka leaned closer to view the side of her face better. She straightened back up and answered, "I think it looks worse than it is. If I clean myself up, it shouldn't be too bad. Dad shouldn't notice." She went to the cupboard next to the sink and pulled out a towel. She went back to the sink, wet a corner of the towel and proceeded to clean the blood on her arm. She paused and glanced at him. "Thanks for, well, everything; telling me, helping me…"

Reid smiled and nodded. "No problem. You needed to know." For some reason, and he had an idea of what that reason was, his usual barriers that kept the world out seemed to crumble when he was with her now.

She smiled back. "I hope Caleb doesn't kill you; I like having you around."

Reid lifted his chin. "It's my irresistible charm."

Rebeka rolled her eyes. "I'm sure that's it." She continued to clean, moving to her face now. She hissed. "God this stings."

Reid watched her, feeling her pain and unable to do much about it. He didn't like seeing her in pain. He looked away, and his gaze fell on the street outside. Headlights appeared as a car came around the corner. Reid glanced at the clock-radio that sat on the counter. It was almost nine-thirty. "I'd better leave in case that's your dad; Tyler's Hummer is kind of conspicuous." Rebeka's shoulders slumped and she frowned. Reid grinned at her reaction. He made an unconscious decision. "Nicky's tomorrow night?"

That seemed to cheer her up a bit. "Definitely."

Reid dipped his head, half bowing, and brought a hand to his forelock as if tipping an invisible hat. He stood back up. "I'll pick you up at seven, then."

"Sounds good." Rebeka looked out the little window, and turned back to him. "That looks like my dad's car; you'd better hurry." She sounded sad again.

He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, so they could both forget about their problems. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. Oh, she seemed fine, but Reid was a master at hiding his feelings behind a mask of annoying arrogance. She may be able to fool her father, maybe even the other Sons, but not him.

Instead, he turned and strode quickly down the little hall to the door.

"Seven!" He heard her call behind him. He waved over his shoulder and closed the door.

The car was still a couple houses away. Reid jumped in the Hummer and turned the ignition, throwing the SUV in reverse. He drove away, leaving the lights off in case Rebeka's dad was one of _those_ dads; the kind that had a heart attack when they discovered their daughter in the company of a boy… especially a playboy like him.

He was a ways away when the car finally turned into the driveway. He turned the headlights on.

Caleb was going to flip. Caleb was going to flip, and he, Reid, was going to be killed. He wasn't going to tell Caleb of course, but Caleb always ended up finding out somehow anyway.

It was a fact of life: Caleb and Reid had opposing views on almost everything. Caleb was strict with Power usage, while Reid went behind his back (and right in front of him) and used for things even when there was no need, like beating Abbot at pool.

Reid was sorely tempted to turn around and go back and hide at Rebeka's. He turned down a barely visible side road, which forked a couple minutes later. He took the left fork and traveled down it for another minute before the road widened into a curvy driveway, the imposing gates closed against trespassers. He stopped next to an intercom, rolled down the window and pushed the button.

"Simms residence," said a static voice.

"Benson, it's Reid. Just dropping off Tyler's car for him."

"Little early for you, isn't it? Very well, Mister Garwin," said the butler. "In you go." The iron gates creaked open. Reid drove up to the house and got out, leaving it for Tyler to put away.

He cut right, running across the side yard. He jumped over the knee-high line of trimmed bushes and landed in a flower bed on the other side. His mother wasn't going to be happy about that. He let his eyes flash black, resurrecting the crushed roses. Good as new.

Reid walked around the back of the Garwin estate. The light from the full moon above reflected off the water of the large coy pond Mrs. Garwin had installed three years ago. A chill breeze rustled the leaves in the trees that surrounded the property as Reid sat at the edge of the pond, staring unseeingly into the opaque black water.

He wondered idly if Rebeka was thinking about him like he was thinking about her, like he'd never thought about any other girl in his life; how her green eyes lit up when he'd asked her out to Nicky's again, how the angry red color flushed her cheeks when she was annoyed… how her soft lips felt on his…

Suddenly, the playboy life didn't seem as appealing anymore. Rebeka Aarons was a tornado that was changing the mental geography of Reid Garwin. For better or worse, he wanted her in his life. He –

"Reid Alexander Garwin! Come inside child, before you catch your death of cold!" Reid obediently did as he was told; he always did as Mrs. Bailey said, otherwise the housekeeper would give him laundry duties for a month. "Oh, and Caleb called, dear," she said as he entered the vast living room from the back door. "He'd like to talk to the rest of you tomorrow morning, at the Danvers' Manor I believe." She bustled off.

Reid groaned inwardly. He should have turned around when he'd had the chance.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own squat from the Covenant.**

**PLEASE RR!! Really people, I want to know what you think –**** L****ike? Dislike?**** Improvements? Tell me!!**

-

The bed-side table buzzed loudly. Rebeka groaned and buried her head under the covers. It felt like she'd gotten almost no sleep. Whoever called hung up, and blissful silence descended.

The phone vibrated loudly on the table again. "What do you _want_?" she moaned. She rolled over and snatched her phone. She didn't recognize the number. "Hello?" Her voice was still thick with sleep.

"Hey, rise and shine Bek!" Rebeka decided that this person was way too happy this early in the morning. As the words finally entered her head, her brain revved into full gear.

"Reid?"

He laughed. "I've been calling you for almost two hours; you're not a morning person are you?"

"Uh, nooo, sorry." Rebeka rubbed her eyes. "When did you start calling – five?" she complained.

"Bek, it's past nine-thirty," Reid explained patiently.

Rebeka sat bolt upright and looked around, noticing for the first time the watery sunlight pushing its way through the thin cloud cover. "Oh." She sagged back against the headboard as memories from the previous night trickled into place. "I had a long night."

"I'll say," Reid agreed. There was a pause. "Caleb's holding a meeting at his house in about fifteen minutes and he wanted you to be there."

Rebeka slowly began to kick the covers towards the foot of the bed. "To tell me what you already told me?"

"I think so. We'll probably come up with a plan of some kind too."

"Caleb's not going to kill you, right? I can pretend I don't know anything if it'll help," Rebeka offered. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, stood up, and went to her dresser.

"Well, he won't be happy, but that's the usual stick up his ass talking," Reid sighed, and Rebeka could imagine him rolling his eyes. "I'll come by and pick you up. I hope you're not one of those girls that take forever," he teased.

Rebeka rolled her eyes. "I can be ready in five minutes if I don't have to look nice. Sweats okay?"

"Fine with me. I'll be there in ten minutes." He hung up.

"Okay then," Rebeka said to the dial tone. She gathered her clothes in her arms and walked out of her room. She walked past her father's room, and saw that the door was still closed. _Must have had a late night_, she smirked. Rebeka continued stiffly down the stairs, her abused muscles protesting. She went into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Seven minutes later, Rebeka emerged fully dressed, as promised, in a t-shirt and baggy black sweatpants. She had quickly towel-dried her hair, and now it was in a messy damp bun high on the back of her head. She went into the kitchen to grab her favorite quick breakfast: a pop tart.

"Good morning, Rebeka." Sandra was watching her from her place at the kitchen island-table.

"Uh, hi." They're already sleeping together? They just had their first date last night! Rebeka forgot about the pop tart, no longer hungry.

Sandra smiled, showing nearly all of her pearly white teeth; Rebeka thought it looked more like a leer. "I was hoping we could spend some time together, to get to know each other better."

"Oh, um, I have plans… sorry." Sandra's smile didn't falter; it seemed like it was plastered on her face. "Hey, uh, could you tell my dad that I went out with some friends?" Rebeka asked. "I'll call him later to tell him the details, but I'm getting picked up in a couple minutes…" Sandra changed subtly; Rebeka wasn't entirely sure if she'd actually seen anything. Her grin was still there, but her physical features seemed to fade inexplicably… morphing, almost.

"You're father's not here," Sandra said; her voice was deeper. Something was _definitely_ wrong here.

"I'm, uh, going to go wait outside…" Rebeka turned, and had almost made it to the door when a hand fell on her shoulder.

"Rebeka, stay with me." That wasn't Sandra, not even the cracked-out Sandra. Rebeka whirled around, knocking the hand away. Chase laughed. "I thought you'd be happy to see me, Bek."

"Don't call me that." Her voice quavered, lessening the ferocity she had intended it to have.

"Aw, are we touchy today?" Chase took a step closer to her, causing her to take a step away, her back now against the door.

"Stay away from me – I know what you are!"

Chase clapped his hands gleefully. "Garwin spill? What did I tell you – he was born to break the rules. Danvers can't control him; he'll die when he Ascends." He paused. "But you," he began thoughtfully, slowly shaking his finger at her. "You could prevent that, couldn't you?" He stared at her intensely, and Rebeka began to reach behind her for the doorknob, her fight or flight reflexes choosing the flight option.

A booming, deep bell tone echoed in the tension-filled house, causing Rebeka to nearly jump out of her skin, banging the back of her head on the door. The doorbell rang again impatiently.

"Go ahead, _Bek_, your hand's already on the knob," Chase invited, his eyes glinting like polished steel.

Rebeka gulped and turned around hurriedly, yanking the door open.

"Rebeka? What's wrong?" Reid took in her pale face immediately, and, instantly on alert, stepped into the house, his eyes scanning around. He didn't see anything but the anxious girl in front of him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Bek, what happened?"

"He came back," she mumbled into his jacket.

"Reid, what's going on?" Rebeka flinched, not expecting Tyler to be there too.

"Chase came back again," Reid growled.

Pressure began to build behind Rebeka's eyes. It intensified steadily, each throb becoming more painful. She pressed her face into Reid's chest. "Ow, Reid!" The pressure let off and faded to almost nothing.

"Damn it!" Reid's arms shook with frustration and the effort of resisting the seductive call of the Power. It was always much harder to resist when he felt a strong emotion; especially one like anger.

"Reid, we have to go; Caleb will want to know what happened." Tyler pulled on Reid's shoulder, but Reid gave no sign that he heard him and didn't move.

"Reid? Tyler's right – come on." Rebeka stood back and slipped her hand into his, pulling him out the door. Reid sighed, shaking his head, and followed.

Tyler's Hummer was still idling in the driveway. Reid slid into the back seat with Rebeka, who rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head. "Are we official yet?" he asked quietly into her hair.

Rebeka chuckled weakly. "I'd like to think so."

-

_A/N: ok,__ I had so many issues with this chapter. I am fully aware that it pretty much sucks. If you think otherwise, please tell me; it'll let me know I didn't completely fail with it.__Anyhoo__, please review – you made it all the way, so you better __be__ planning to push the little GO button down there! Push it! It's calling to you!__ Give into temptation! Ok, I'm done now. (push it now)_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own them. Nope. Nada. I cry myself to sleep … jk, I'm not quite that desperate yet.**

**PLEASE RR!! I want to thank you all for your reviews last time! ****I felt so loved; I was pretty much speechless (squeals don't ****count,**** right?)****Can**** you do it again?? Please?**

-

Reid, Rebeka, and Tyler walked up to the large Victorian manor. The door opened before Tyler could raise his hand to knock.

"Caleb will see you in the drawing room," an old caretaker announced, ushering them into the foyer. He gave Rebeka an appraising look before addressing the group again. "I'll take you there."

"Thanks Gorman, but we know where it is," Tyler said politely. Gorman nodded and disappeared quietly. Tyler led the way past large oak doors framed in ornate designs hinting delicate flower vines. A soft light illuminated the opposite wall. Indistinct murmurs came from the open double doors of the drawing room. The three entered the room.

"What took you so long?" Caleb demanded as Tyler perched on an arm of the couch that Reid and Rebeka sat on.

"Chase got to her again," Reid stated plainly, laying an arm across Rebeka's shoulders, and she leaned into him. Pogue raised an eyebrow at Reid, who shrugged nonchalantly. Pogue smiled; he knew how much it would mean to his friend if Reid could finally settle down with Rebeka. And it would mean so much to the rest of them if Rebeka, with her sensitive gift, kept Reid from using so goddamn much once he Ascended.

Caleb ran a hand through his dark hair. "Okay, we're going to have to do this even faster than I wanted in order to stop him soon." He looked at Rebeka. "There's another reason we're called the Sons of Ipswich. In the sixteen-hundreds, when –"

"I already told her, Caleb." Rebeka stared at Reid, but he kept his eyes on Caleb. Pogue and Tyler looked between Caleb and Reid, ready to intervene if either of them did something stupid.

After a moment Caleb nodded slowly and turned back to Rebeka. "Did you understand everything, then?"

Rebeka nodded. "Well, there's one thing…" Caleb inclined his head, gesturing for her to continue. "When he – Chase, I mean – came back today, he said something… that Reid was going to die when he 'ascends'. What's that?"

"You didn't tell her?" Pogue asked.

"I figured she'd already had enough surprises for one night," Reid said defensively. Rebeka reached up and took the hand that was hanging off of her shoulder to soothe him.

"Calm down everyone," Caleb said, particularly to Reid. Once again, he looked at Rebeka. "We first get out Power when we turn thirteen. At eighteen we Ascend, which means we get full use of the Power. But there's a side effect: once we do Ascend, the more we use the faster we age. My father was forty-four when he died; he looked nearly ninety years old. That's why Chase thinks Reid won't make it through his Ascension – he's already used so much, and it's hard to stop."

Rebeka realized her mouth was hanging open, and quickly shut it. She looked at Reid. "Isn't there anything we can do? Chase said I could stop it – what did he mean?" She felt like she was grasping at straws.

"That brings us to the second reason for this meeting. The Book of Damnation is basically a record of our families from the time they settled here all the way through the witch trials. During the witch hunts, money kept our ancestors safe. They used the Power in moderation, and not often in public," Caleb explained. "A year into the trails, the fingers started pointing at the founding families. It was always the same four that accused them. Chase's family stayed under the radar, and I think that they betrayed the Covenant because they never got caught."

"How did the others get caught?" Rebeka asked, captivated.

Pogue took over, knowing the history almost as well as Caleb. "The four that ratted them out turned out to have a certain gift. They could feel when someone used the Power. We can do that too, but they didn't have the ability to use the Power as well."

"Who were they?" Rebeka questioned quietly.

"Their names were Drake, Peters, Smith, and… Aarons."

Rebeka nodded, expecting as much. "But why could Chase's family get away with it?"

It was Tyler's turn next. "Because," he said, "each of their families was specifically, uh, _tuned _to one of ours. The Drakes could feel the Danvers'; the Peters' had the Parry family; the Smiths felt the Simms'; and the Aarons' could sense the Garwins."

Rebeka's hand tightened around Reid's. "And there was no one to catch Chase's family," she concluded.

Reid nodded. "The sudden accuracy of finding the real witches led to the formation of the Covenant."

Everyone was quiet. Finally, Rebeka spoke as the last pieces fit into place. "So, Chase meant that if I stay with Reid, he'll make it through his…" she struggled with the unfamiliar word. "… Ascension because –"

"Because I'm not going to risk hurting you by using," Reid said fiercely.

Varying signs of relief appeared on the other Sons' faces. They would never tell Reid, but they had all shared the secret fear that their brother would succumb to the nearly irresistible call of the Power; his record wasn't so great. Rebeka was the best thing that could happen to Reid.

"So, how are we going to beat Chase this time?" Tyler asked, the excitement beginning to light up his blue eyes.

Caleb shook his head. "So far, he hasn't done much of anything that we can predict future actions from."

"Maybe we could see if the Book or any of the others has anything useful," Pogue suggested.

"Good idea," Caleb agreed. He smiled, addressing the group at large, "We'll make it a party."

"A study party," Tyler corrected, laughing. "When do you want us over, chief?"

"Three o'clock, this afternoon at the colony house?"

Reid looked at Rebeka. "How bad did you want to go to Nicky's tonight?" She shrugged; so long as she was with him, she didn't care where she was. "Sounds good to us," he said. Pogue and Tyler nodded in agreement. The atmosphere in the room was relaxed, or at least less tense, now that they had a start to a plan.

Tyler looked at Reid. "Gonna need a ride?"

"No, I can…not do that…" Reid sighed heavily. "Yeah, can you pick us up?"

Tyler nodded once. "No problem. Alright I have to go; my mom wanted me to pick up some things."

Pogue stood up. "I gotta go to; Kate wanted to see a movie… probably some Brad Pitt thing." He waved to the others and left, Tyler right behind him.

"Well, should we go too?" Reid asked.

Rebeka slowly stood up. "Seeing as Tyler's our ride," she reminded him.

Reid jumped up and ran out of the room. Rebeka and Caleb could hear him calling, "Baby Boy! You better still be here!"

Rebeka chuckled. Caleb put a brotherly arm around her shoulders and escorted her to the door. "Thanks for explaining everything Caleb."

"Thanks for not freaking out; that made things much easier."

Rebeka waved as she ran out to Reid and Tyler, who were waiting by the Hummer. "Shotie for the hottie!" she called, opening the front passenger door.

"Move over then," Reid joked, elbowing her playfully out of the way.

Rebeka put a hand over her heart. "Ooh, Garwin, that hurts." Reid laughed, and Rebeka made her move, slipping under her arm and climbed in next to Tyler. Reid stopped laughing and stared at her. She jerked her thumb towards the back seat. "You lose."

"That's what you think." Reid stepped up and gathered her, protesting, in his arms, lifting her up and sliding under her so she was now seated on his lap.

"If you're finished, would you mind telling me where you want to go?" Tyler asked, shaking his head.

"My house please," Rebeka chirped. Reid wrapped his arms securely around her waist as the Hummer barreled down the road.

Tyler pulled up the driveway, stopping behind another car. "Huh, my dad must have left this morning," Rebeka said as she slid out, Reid right behind her. She opened the door. "Dad?"

"Kitchen," Tom called back. He walked out, drying his hands on a towel, and saw Rebeka and Reid.

"Dad, this is Reid," Rebeka introduced. Tom and Reid shook hands.

"Garwin?"

"Yessir," Reid affirmed politely.

Tom looked between Rebeka and Reid. "Is this what I, uh, think it is?" he stuttered, gesturing to the both of them.

"Yeah Dad." Rebeka took Reid's hand and began towing him up the stairs to avoid any more awkward questions.

"Is that approval?" Reid asked as she shut the door to her room. He sat on the bed and leaned back on the headboard.

"Either way, I don't care."

"She's a rebel," Reid remarked. He watched her take a notebook and a text book out of her backpack. "No, she's a nerd." Rebeka stuck out her tongue as she sat on the bed with him.

"This is the only time I have to do it." Reid pulled her back, so her head rested on his chest. She could hear his heart beating steadily; it was very soothing. Her homework lay forgotten a few feet away. Reid kissed the top of her head and she sighed contentedly before giving into the sleep she didn't get much of last night.

XXX

A horn honked distantly. Reid groaned and held the warm body next to him closer, slowly sinking back into the darkness. His phone vibrated, waking him again, and he reluctantly pulled it out. "What?"

"It's three o'clock, man," said Tyler.

"Right," he groaned again. "We'll be out in a minute." He flipped his phone shut. "Bek," he said quietly, stroking the side of her face. She moaned and tried to bury her head into his neck and shoulder. Reid tugged gently on her ponytail. Rebeka opened her eyes and glared.

"There had better be a good reason." She let the threat hang in the air.

"It's three."

For just waking up, she sure moved fast. They arrived at the colony house half an hour late, but Caleb didn't say anything.

The Sons and Rebeka spent the entire afternoon searching through one wall of the volumes and volumes for any hint of a way to finally beat Chase. Reid frequently looked over at Rebeka, who always had her nose in an old dusty book, completely engrossed by the seemingly endless history.

Around seven, Sarah brought relief in the form of a Chinese take-out dinner. They all scarfed down pot stickers, mushu pork, and sweet-and-sour chicken, glad to be away from the yellowing, hard-to-read pages.

After dinner, the six of them got through most of the second wall before the yawning began to go around. They all agreed to stop for the day, and taking the day off tomorrow, resuming the search on Monday after dinner.

Tyler dropped Rebeka and Reid off at her house again. There was a note on the door from Tom, telling Rebeka that he was out with Sandra again. The house was dark, and the two stumbled their way up the stairs to Rebeka's room. Reid collapsed on end of the bed. "My eyes," he moaned.

Rebeka giggled, throwing her shoes in the corner. "We get a break tomorrow."

Reid shook his head. "I think I'm permanently damaged."

Rebeka crawled under the covers and patted the bed next to her. Reid sat up and kicked off his shoes, rolling in lazily, and pinning her underneath him.

"Ahh, you're so fat! Get off –" He silenced her complaint, pressing his lips to hers. He shifted slightly so she didn't bear his weight. Her hands came up to his face, tracing along his cheek bones and jaw line. Reid let one arm support him, the other hand inching up under her shirt and coming to rest on the hot skin of her stomach; he didn't want to push it too far. He deepened the kiss briefly, before pulling back. Rebeka smiled.

"I love you Bek." He got a quick peck on the lips in answer. He moved so he was positioned on his back, pulling her closer so her head lay on his chest under his chin and her body was contoured perfectly to his. It was quiet.

"Reid?"

"Yeah?"

"When do you Ascend?"

Reid hesitated. "Day after tomorrow – Monday," he answered quietly. "One-seventeen in the morning."

Rebeka nodded, her hair tickling his neck. Sleep slowly claimed them. Reid slept dreamlessly, but that was not the case for Rebeka.

There was no background, just blackness. Two figures came into focus, one standing and one lying down. Chase was laughing, his eyes burning black. The outline of his body glowed, illuminating the other figure.

Reid lay dead at his feet.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own Reid. Oh, was that a typo? I own Rebeka though. You all know who's mine and who isn't.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Reese's Puffs cereal either.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Chocolate Chocolate Tower either. I think that's it.**

**PLEASE RR! I want to see if I can get at least a hundred reviews for this baby by the time I'm done (three more chapters!), so it would really help if you all could review here!**

-

Reid didn't have to open his eyes to know that goose bumps were standing up all over his arms. He felt around him blindly for the covers, and found them after a second. He grabbed a handful and began to pull them back over, but they didn't move. This was starting to be more work than it was worth. After another futile attempt, Reid opened his eyes.

Rebeka was sleeping soundly, all the blankets wrapped around her. Reid shook his head and smiled. _Of course._ He stretched and yawned widely before he sat up. Leaning over Rebeka, he brushed his lips gently on her cheek. She didn't wake up, but Reid saw a hint of a smile play across her lips.

The room around him was light and cheery with the sun up, if not a bit messy. Reid spotted the digital alarm clock of the dresser against the wall. It displayed 8:56. Reid grinned suddenly; now _that_ was a good idea. He inched off the bed, careful not to bounce too much, and grabbed his phone on the way out.

Reid slipped through the door and padded silently down the thinly carpeted stairs. If he wasn't completely awake already, the cold tile floor in the kitchen on his bare feet took care of that.

He quickly spied what he needed. A large square griddle hung above the island with many other pots and pans. He took it down and set it on the stove, turning that on to preheat. In the third cabinet he searched, he found a bowl, and in the drawer above that he found a fork. He crossed over to the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of milk and a carton of eggs. Reid took out two eggs and cracked them into the bowl. He poured two quick splashes of milk in after that and mixed everything together, glad that Mrs. Bailey had taught him how to make French toast. It had been a while, but Reid was fairly sure he could pull off a decent breakfast-in-bed.

He found the loaf of bread in the clearly marked breadbox, and took a few slices out. He plopped the first one in the mixture, covering both sides. The griddle sizzled when he put the bread on. He put three more slices of French-toast-to-be on and waited a minute before he flipped them. He smirked to himself; perfectly golden. After another minute, he put the finished toasts on a plate he found. Then he started the process over again.

After he flipped the second batch, his phone rattled loudly on the countertop. "What's up?" he asked, looking around to find something to use as a tray.

"Did you stay at Rebeka's?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah." Reid spotted a long thin piece of metal on top of the refrigerator. Something smelled funny over here, he noticed distantly.

"What are you two doing?"

"She's still sleeping, so I'm making breakfast." He kneeled on the counter and grabbed the tray-like object.

"Hello? Hello?" Tyler sounded panicked. "I'm looking for _Reid Garwin_,"

"Shut up Baby Boy."

A shrill incessant beeping startled Reid. He slipped off the counter and landed hard on the tile floor. His phone clattered on the counter above, shutting on itself. The silver-plated rectangular platter crashed on the floor next to Reid's head.

He scrambled to his feet; _now_ the smell made sense. Reid quickly turned off the stove and removed the griddle. The second batch wasn't so much toasted as burnt to a crisp. The smoke alarm was still making an immensely irritating racket.

"Reid?" Rebeka called over the alarm. He turned and saw her enter the kitchen in her sweatpants and a tank top, her nose wrinkled at the smell of burned breakfast.

Reid opened his mouth and paused, glaring at the smoke alarm on the ceiling. It was suddenly quiet.

"Ow!" Rebeka punched his arm. "You could have taken out the battery or something."

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling her into a hug. "It's hard to break the habit."

She sighed. "You're forgiven, of course. But you've got to be careful; you… Ascend tonight."

Reid rested his chin on the top of her head. "I know," he whispered.

They stood there for a moment longer, until Rebeka finally pulled away, looking up at him with a smile. "So, were you trying to burn down the house, or was that just a bonus?" 

"Well, if you must know, I was going to surprise you—" Reid tapped the end of her nose, "—with breakfast in bed."

"Aw, I'm touched!" Rebeka stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. She looked around at the mess. "Well, since that kind of went down the tubes, how does cereal sound?" She moved around him and went to the cupboard, pulling out a box of Reese's Puffs. Reid grinned.

They ate the peanut-buttery chocolate cereal in silence. By the time they had finished and cleaned up the breakfast mess, it was nearly noon. Reid rinsed the bowls and Rebeka put them in the dishwasher.

"So," Reid began, leaning against the counter, "what are we going to do now?"

Rebeka shrugged. "Dad's at work again." She pointed to the refrigerator where a note was pinned under a magnet. "We can really do whatever we want." Rebeka thought for a moment. "How about we watch a movie?" Reid nodded and Rebeka took his hand, leading him into the living room. She stopped at a small cabinet, which was filled with DVDs. "Take your pick," she told him, retreating to the couch and plopping herself down.

Reid scanned through the titles, searching for something appropriate. He spotted a promising one, pulled it out, and tossed it to her.

Rebeka raised an eyebrow. "_The Notebook_?"

Reid wondered what he did wrong. "What?"

She shrugged. "I guess I had you wrong; you didn't really strike me as _The Notebook_ type." She got up again and quickly pulled out another movie. "I don't know about you, but I'm not that into the Romance genre." She handed the new pick to him.

"But you're all for blood and guts?" he asked, smiling, and looked up from the _Blackhawk Down_ cover. Rebeka nodded and took it back, inserting it into the player. They both sat down on the couch, and Reid put an arm around her to pull her closer.

A little over two hours later, the credits began to roll. Reid stretched and rested his cheek on top of her head. "Nice choice; much better than some mushy thing." There were parts that even he had to glance away from for a moment. He heard a sniff. "Are you crying?" He brought her face up, and he could see that her green eyes were wet and shining.

Rebeka smiled and sniffed again. "Yeah, sort of. You'd think that after a while it wouldn't affect me so much."

"And here I was, thinking you were this tough gory movie-lover," Reid teased.

"Shut up Garwin." She mimed to punch him, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close enough to kiss. Reid's hand traveled up her arm and then down her side, coming to rest on her 

hip. Her fingers raked through his blonde hair and pulled him closer. Then, much to his displeasure, she broke it, smiling. "I like it when you're quiet."

Reid's stomach grumbled, putting a slight damper on the moment. Rebeka laughed. "It's been a while since breakfast, so sue me." A buzzing sound came from the kitchen, and Reid felt his pockets. "Oh, I think that's my phone." He stood up quickly and went into the kitchen. The phone's vibrating was on the verge of sending it off the edge of the counter before he grabbed it. "Hello?"

"What the hell happened? I've been trying to call you for two hours!"

Reid grinned at Tyler's panic attack. "I burned breakfast," he admitted.

"Way to go," Tyler congratulated his panic disappearing. "But that doesn't explain why you didn't answer your phone."

"We were watching a movie. The sound system here is amazing," he added.

"Oh, well the other reason I called was to ask if you guys wanted to go to Outback Steakhouse with me for lunch."

"Hold on, I'll ask." Reid stuck his head around the corner. "Hey Bek?" he called.

"Yeah?"

"You want to go to Outback with Tyler for lunch?"

There was a loud squeal. "Can we get the Chocolate Chocolate Tower dessert?"

Reid brought the phone back up to his ear and heard Tyler laughing. "I'll pick you up in fifteen minutes, then," said Tyler. Reid flipped his phone shut and went back in the living room.

Rebeka skipped happily over to him. "When are we going?"

"Tyler's coming over in fifteen minutes." Rebeka ran up the stairs, and Reid heard a door slam shut. In less time than he thought possible for a girl, Rebeka joined him again, dressed in a long sleeved t-shirt and dark blue jeans.

She spun around. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful." 

Rebeka snorted at the flattery. "Right."

Reid snagged her waist, pulling her body closer to his. "Alright," he amended. "Irresistible."

"Ha, got any other good jokes?" A horn honked from the driveway and Rebeka nimbly slipped out of Reid's arms and ran to the door, almost screaming, "Chocolate Chocolate Tower!"

Reid shook his head and followed her, joining her and Tyler in the front seat.

"He strikes me as the type," she was saying to Tyler.

Reid looked at her suspiciously. "Who are we talking about?"

"Abbot," said Tyler. "Giving her the usual warnings."

"Oh, yeah. Prick," Reid agreed. 

They arrived at the restaurant and were seated in a small booth. The waiter got the drink orders and brought them out immediately, and they ordered their food right away.

"So," said Rebeka, "I'm curious. Why do you call Tyler 'Baby Boy'?"

Reid smiled and shrugged. "We're all brothers in every way except blood-relation, and he's the youngest. I don't even know who started it. He complains a lot too," he added, earning a scowl from Tyler.

"And do you have a nickname?" she asked.

"His old reputation gave it to him," Tyler chuckled. "Playboy." Now it was Reid's turn to scowl darkly at the young Simms. Rebeka raised an eyebrow. "But I'm pretty sure it'll go away now that he's got you," he assured her.

"I suppose it shouldn't really surprise me, considering the bathroom gossip." She sipped her soda.

"What do they say?" Reid asked worriedly.

"What's said in the bathroom stays in the bathroom." Rebeka grinned and waved a dismissive hand. "It's an unwritten rule or something. But don't worry your pretty little head, Garwin."

Just then, the waiter came back with a tray full of food and an "Enjoy your meal".

"Do you have any nicknames?" Reid asked when only the discarded scraps of soggy French fries were left on their plates.

"Uh," Rebeka hesitated. "I've only got a few from when I was little."

"Spill."

She sighed. "My dad used to call me Beka-Bean, or Bean for short." She glowered at the mischievous look on Reid's face. "If you ever call me that, I'll drop you so fast your head will spin," she warned, and looked at Tyler. "That goes for you and the others too." Tyler nodded quickly.

The waiter came back. "Would you like any desserts?"

"A Chocolate Chocolate Tower, please," Rebeka said without consulting the boys. The waiter nodded and left again. "It is to die for," she told them happily.

Twenty-five minutes later, they were driving back, stuffed silly with the rich chocolate cake they had eaten. _ (A/N: the Chocolate Chocolate Tower cake is the greatest thing known to mankind in the dessert category. Mmmmm…)_

"Oh man," Tyler groaned again, "that was so good."

Rebeka giggled. "I told you!"

"Hey Baby Boy," said Reid. "Before you burst from that chocolate-induced pleasure, could you drop us off at the old Putnam site? There are a couple more things I should explain before tonight."

Tyler nodded. "How are you getting back?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. He saw Reid looking sideways at him over Rebeka's head, and rolled his eyes. "Okay, but take your time; my mom gave me this huge list of stuff to do before we go to Nicky's tonight – by the way, we're all going to Nicky's for dinner, and then Caleb said we'll wait out the rest of the night at the colony house until you Ascend." Reid nodded once as Tyler came to a stop on a bridge. He and Rebeka slid out and waved to Tyler.

Reid took Rebeka's hand and they walked in silence down the narrow road. The woods began to thin and then there was a large open space in front of them. Rebeka stared at the charred remains of an enormous building. Reid led her off the road through the dry yellow grasses, each step rustling loudly. Broken ribbons of bright yellow-and-black striped caution tape littered the ground.

"As you've probably guessed," said Reid at last when they came to a stop in front of the mess of blackened beams and the scorched skeleton of the back half of the building, "this isn't going to be our first run-in with Chase."

Rebeka nodded. "I wondered how you knew it was him. What happened before?" They began to walk slowly around the site.

Reid took a breath and launched into the story. "Almost a year ago, we first met Chase. He had transferred in, and Pogue disliked him almost immediately; probably because Chase was hitting on Kate. But he and Caleb got along famously… until he used to beat Caleb in a race. Caleb and Pogue figured out who the bastard was: the fifth Son of the missing bloodline." Reid shook his head disgustedly. "Then Kate got really sick, and Sarah told Caleb that she'd been having weird dreams about spiders. It turned out that the sick bastard was attacking anyone close to Caleb – he landed Pogue in the hospital too – and it was all because he was a Power addict. He had gotten his father's Power and since Caleb was close to Ascending, he wanted Caleb's too." 

Rebeka's eyes widened. "That's why he looks much older than nineteen; it's because he uses so much."

Reid nodded, and continued, "The day of Caleb's Ascension was the Fall Fest. Caleb put Tyler and me in charge of keeping Sarah safe while he went to find Chase."

Rebeka's green eyes popped even wider. "Why the hell would he do that!"

"Because Chase was going to keep hurting everyone around him, unless he got Caleb's Power. They met here, at the old Putnam Barn. Unfortunately, Chase somehow got Sarah even though she was with us the entire time." Rebeka could tell Reid still hadn't forgiven himself for slipping. "Now the details are kind of fuzzy; Caleb didn't tell everything that happened. So, they met here, and it was only about ten minutes until Caleb Ascended. As far as I know, Caleb got his ass kicked. Then he Ascended, and the fighting was even worse. But Chase was still more powerful, having both his own Power and his father's, and Caleb was still being beaten. But then Caleb received this huge amount of Power, and was able to blast Chase into an apparent oblivion. Caleb's father had willed Caleb his Power. That's why William Danvers died – no Power, no life. Relatively happy ending: Caleb saves Sarah from the burning barn—" Reid waved a hand at their surroundings. "—and Chase is gone. Well, thought to be gone."

Rebeka's forehead wrinkled. "But if Caleb's got his father's Power – and I thought someone said Pogue already Ascended too – and you Ascend tonight, shouldn't that be too much for Chase? Can't you beat him?"

Reid shook his head. "Chase knows, I don't know, tricks or secrets or something. He knows how to get the most bang for his buck, so to speak. Even if we did beat him, he could do some serious damage before it happened."

Rebeka frowned. "That's not fair."

Reid laughed. "No, it's not; but that's life."

The opening chords of 'Slow Ride' came from Rebeka's pocket. She answered her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Beka, where are you?" Tom asked.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't leave a note. I'm with Reid at the moment."

"That's fine, I was just wondering if you were going to be home for dinner."

"Um, I wasn't planning on it – we were going to meet the others at Nicky's later. Is that okay?"

Reid began to play absently with her strawberry-blonde hair, tucking random strands behind her ear, and then untucking them again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you've found such a great bunch to be with. Well, have fun then – and don't forget it's a school night."

"Oh, yeah, um, Sarah invited me to stay with her and Kate tonight in the dorm; just having a girls' night," she lied easily to clear her schedule for later tonight.

"Alright. I'll see you after school then."

"Bye Dad." She slipped her phone back into her pocket.

Reid took his own phone out. "It's nearly seven-thirty," he said. Surprised, Rebeka looked over at the filtered sunlight that was already ducking below the tree tops. "I'll see if Tyler's ready yet." Reid placed his free right hand on the small of her back, guiding her out of the overgrown field and back up the road. He hit Tyler's speed dial number.

"You ready?" Tyler said right away.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Baby Boy. We're coming up to the bridge. Where are you?"

"Almost there." Reid could hear the Hummer's engine rumbling through the woods already, and snapped his phone shut.

XXX

Nicky's was busy, as always. The three of them found Caleb, Sarah, Kate and Pogue at the usual tables in the back.

"Happy Birthday Reid!" the girls chorused. Reid nodded his thanks.

"Technically it's not until tomorrow," said Caleb, pounding Reid's fist. Sarah poked him.

Reid laid a hand on Caleb's shoulder. "That's okay, it just means they get to say it again," he smirked. Rebeka sat down next to Sarah. "What do you want to eat?" he asked, leaning over to peck her cheek.

She smiled and shrugged. "I'm not particularly hungry; I'll just steal yours."

The guys got up and went to order the food. Almost as soon as they had left, Reid's spot was taken.

"Hey, I don't believe we've had the pleasure. You're in my English class." It was the curly haired boy she had seen Reid and Tyler playing pool against the first night – was it only two days ago? Seemed like forever.

"Go away, Aaron," said Kate.

Aaron ignored her. "It's unfortunate you have to sit next to Danvers though. You can come sit by me," he offered. Rebeka privately decided that she'd rather kiss Chase.

"Actually, I'm quite happy sitting next to Caleb, thanks."

"Abbot, are you asking for a beating?" Reid was standing behind him and the soda in his hand was shaking visibly.

Aaron smirked. "Just being friendly, Garwin." He stood up and patted Rebeka's arm. She jerked it away.

"Honey, I'm sorry," Reid apologized as he sat down. Rebeka couldn't help but smile at his unconscious use of the term of endearment. "Dipshit," Reid muttered before biting into his burger. The others nodded in agreement. Rebeka stole a couple fries from his plate. She saw Aaron looking from her to Reid, a scowl disfiguring his features as he put two and two together. Well, one thing could be said for the prick: he wasn't completely stupid.

The group spent a good two hours at the bar. Rebeka managed to get Reid to dance with her, after saying she'd dance with Tyler if he didn't want to come. He couldn't let Baby Boy get away with that. Aaron Abbot also tried to make a move on her, but Reid intervened, tripping him up with a well-placed pool stick.

Finally, Caleb decided that it was time to go to the colony house. Tyler, Reid, and Rebeka split off and went to the Hummer, while the others got in Caleb's silver Mustang.

The hours at the colony house seemed to ooze by. Sarah and Kate started a game of 'I Spy' to pass the time. Soon everyone was laughing at Caleb's inability to pick out Kate's hot pink shirt.

Around midnight, everyone had found a comfy spot and was nodding off. The girls cuddled against the protective heat of their respective boyfriends, who, along with Tyler, were trying to stay wake with a hushed conversation, reassuring Reid that, because of the sudden decline of his Power use, his Ascension should be a piece of cake.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, Caleb woke everyone up and they all went outside, where the Ascension would cause the least damage. Reid stood slightly apart from them, looking up at the sky. Rebeka stood close to Tyler, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. Caleb was watching the clock on his phone. "Now," he whispered.

The air around Reid glowed suddenly. Out of the sky came long slow lightning bolts of Power, striking Reid again and again. Caleb and Pogue watched silently. Sarah and Kate had their faces hidden against their boyfriends' chests. 

Reid was groaning loudly; they had told him it would be painful, but they hadn't said how bad it would be.

Rebeka was biting her lip to keep from crying out loud. The pain was unbearable. She abruptly fell to her knees. Tyler followed her, holding her as upright as possible while she twisted in agony, holding her head. There was so much Power everywhere; it was all she could do to keep conscious. Her vision darkened – she couldn't see anything.

And then it was over. Reid collapsed on all fours, a ways from where he started. He crawled back to Rebeka, who was slumped against Tyler. "Thanks Tyler," he whispered hoarsely. Reid took her from him and she moaned exhaustedly. They sat on the cold ground in each others' arms; the others decided to give them a little space.

"That sucked," Rebeka sighed.

"You're telling me." Reid laughed weakly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

A/N: Whoo baby, that was a long one! I hope you all enjoyed the fluff in here; I tried to make it fun. So, since you already made it all the way down here, you might as well review, right? Come on, it'll only take a minute! Thank you in advance to all of you who do press that little 'Go' button!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own the charming Sons of Ipswich, but that doesn't mean I can't try =**

**PLEASE RR!! Last I checked, there were 71 reviews, so that means in order to reach the hundred mark, we need 29 more! At least. Lots more would be excellent! Ok, here we go!**

Reid pressed his lips to Rebeka's forehead. "I say we call it a night," he said, his voice still weak. Rebeka nodded tiredly. Reid slowly pushed himself up to his feet, and then helped Rebeka. She staggered and settled for leaning against his side as he guided them back towards the others.

The Sons, Sarah, and Kate met them halfway. Caleb squeezed Reid's shoulder. "Congratulations, man."

"Thanks Caleb." And Reid meant it.

Sarah and Kate ran up and squeezed the tired couple in a group hug. "You did it!" they squealed.

Pogue rescued Reid and Rebeka from the girls. He pounded Reid's fist and planted a wet one on Rebeka's cheek, making her laugh. "I'll see you tomorrow guys." He stepped back, and he and Kate went back to the house to grab their motorcycle gear. Caleb took Sarah back inside after giving Reid one last handshake.

Tyler was the last to come up to them. "Well it's over," he said. Reid nodded, thankful. "Let's go," Tyler said. He patted Reid on the back and led the way back to the Hummer.

The only noise was the rumble of the engine in the early morning darkness.

"Oh," said Rebeka, mostly to herself, after a while.

"Hmm?" Reid mumbled.

"I just remembered I can't go home tonight. I told my dad that I would be with Sarah and Kate tonight."

"And you think we're going to dump you on the side of the road?" Tyler asked, smiling. "You're coming with us."

"Us? You guys don't live at home like Caleb and Pogue?"

"Hell no. Can't meet girls at home!" Tyler teased.

"Right." Rebeka smiled and settled back against Reid, who hugged her closer.

Tyler parked the Hummer in the student parking lot. The trio walked up the stone steps and into the dorms. "We're on the third floor," whispered Tyler. Rebeka nodded. They continued to the far end of the hall, went up the two flights of stairs, and stopped at the fifth door on the left in the third floor hallway. Reid took out his key and unlocked the door and they all stepped in.

"Home sweet home," Reid announced quietly.

Rebeka looked around the room. For being the habitat of two teenage guys, it was pretty clean. A few shirts and boxers littered the floor and the two unmade beds. Swim medals hung on the wall under the high-set windows, along with a couple of pictures of the four Sons doing body-builder poses in their Speedos. "Cozy," she said. She turned back to the boys and saw that Tyler was already in the bathroom and Reid was sprawled across his bed, looking for all the world like the only thing on his mind was sleep. He patted the mattress next to him sleepily and Rebeka obliged, curling up next to him. Seconds later, he was asleep.

Tyler came out of the bathroom and crossed quietly to his bed. "'Night Beka," he whispered.

"'Night Ty," she whispered back. Tyler snapped off the light, and the both of them fell promptly asleep. 

XXX

It seemed like only minutes later when Rebeka was woken by Tyler. Pale sunlight streamed in through the windows as she rubbed her eyes and tried to get up. The attempt was foiled by Reid's arm draped across her torso. She squinted at the clock on the bedside table. There were fifteen minutes until the first class of the day started. "Holy crap!" she exclaimed, scrambling out of bed, and accidentally elbowing Reid in the chest in the process.

"What the hell!" Reid jerked awake, rubbing his chest.

"Sorry!" Rebeka said a bit breathlessly, already on her feet and searching for things she didn't have. She realized this, and dropped her arms to her side. "All my stuff is at home," she moaned. Rebeka didn't do well with almost no sleep. She flopped back down on Reid's bed and buried her head in the pillow. "I'm going back to sleep." It came out muffled, sounding more like, "Mm goon 'ak ta 'eep".

Reid nodded to Tyler, and, with a soft sound like a sigh of wind, Tyler disappeared. Reid went over to Rebeka and stroked her hair. "Bek? Not all hope is lost," he said, smiling.

"Very poetic," Rebeka commented dryly, slowly sitting back up. She looked around. "Wait… where's Tyler?"

Almost as if he was waiting for his cue, Tyler reappeared, holding Rebeka's backpack and a bundle of clothing that was her school uniform. His eyes faded back from black to their normal blue. He smiled at her shocked expression and tossed her the clothes.

Rebeka looked at Reid and then back to Tyler. "You can do that?!"

Reid just laughed. "Come on, we're going to be late enough as it is."

The day seemed to crawl by, and Rebeka was having trouble concentrating. What was worse, she didn't have any classes with Reid. She did, however, have lunch with Tyler, Caleb, and Kate; Physics with Sarah; and English with Caleb and Pogue.

Finally, the last bell rang. Rebeka followed her usual routine unthinkingly, walking through the small part of Ipswich that passed for downtown.

"Hey Beka," called Tom, coming out of the real estate office just as Rebeka was walking up to it.

"Hi Dad." She tossed her backpack into the back seat and climbed in the front next to her dad.

"So, how was school today?" Tom asked after the sleepy silence became too much.

"Fine." She stifled a yawn.

"Are you alright? You're not getting sick are you?"

"I'm fine, Dad. Sarah, Kate, and I just stayed up a little later than planned."

Tom nodded. After a moment, he said, "How's the, uh, love life?"

Rebeka tried to act nonchalant. "Everything's fine; Reid's really great."

The car pulled into the driveway and they got out and went inside. Tom began to search through the kitchen. "What do you want for dinner?" he asked, sticking his head in the refrigerator. 

Rebeka shrugged. "I don't know. I might be going out with the others tonight." She slipped a pop tart out of its package and began to nibble on it.

Tom stopped his search for food and looked at his daughter. "Beka, I've hardly seen you the past few days. I'm glad you have these great friends," he said quickly when he saw her about to interrupt, "but I think, as your father, that I deserve a dinner with you every once in a while."

Rebeka gave in. "Alright. We're getting together later tonight any way." Tom rolled his eyes and Rebeka grinned.

After a couple hours of homework and web surfing, Tom called Rebeka down to eat. "Pasta a la Aarons," he declared, sitting down to the spread on the kitchen table.

"That doesn't have much of a ring to it," Rebeka chuckled, sitting down, and served herself and Tom the spaghetti. 

Dinner was quiet, except for the clink of silverware on plates. A couple of conversation attempts were made, but there's only so much they could say about the weather or the quality of the spaghetti.

After dinner, Tom plodded off into the living room while Rebeka loaded the dishwasher. Her phone rang on the counter next to her. "Hello?" she asked, drying her hands off.

"You didn't come to Nicky's," Reid complained good-naturedly.

Rebeka escaped to her room. "I couldn't. My dad guilt-tripped me into staying home for dinner."

Reid laughed. "Well, you didn't miss much, just the usual ass-kicking Abbot gets at pool. You're coming to the colony house right?"

"Of course. When is it?"

"Uh, about half an hour from now. I'll come get you in about fifteen minutes?"

"Sounds good. I'll get ready."

"Alright. Bye Bek." He hung up.

Rebeka threw her phone on her bed and searched through her closet for her sexiest sweatpants; which was one hell of an oxymoron.

She was coming down the stairs when she heard her father exclaim, "Holy mother!" She ran down the rest of the stairs and into the living room, fearing the worst. Her father was staring out the window.

"Dad! What is it?"

"What a beauty!" Tom said, apparently oblivious to Rebeka's alarm.

Rebeka looked out the window. Sitting in the driveway, a sleek sports car glinted brightly in the setting sun. The darkly tinted windows obscured the driver and reflected the midnight blue gloss paint. "Who—" Her question was answered as the driver's side door opened and a familiar blonde stepped out.

His hand came up to his face, and a second later, Rebeka's phone rang in her hand. "Reid?"

"Hey, you ready? I've got something to show you." Reid sounded insanely excited, more than she'd ever heard.

"I know; I'm looking at it," Rebeka said incredulously.

"I thought he had a Hummer," said Tom, still staring awestruck at the car.

"No, that's Tyler's," Rebeka told him. She spoke into the phone again, "I'll be right out."

Reid met her at the door and walked back out to his shiny new car with her. "She's a Porsche 911 Turbo," he said proudly.

Rebeka walked to the passenger's side and saw the small silver chrome words _Porsche 911 Turbo_ scrawled in metallic cursive on the door. They climbed in, and Rebeka gave a low whistle. "This is nice. When did you get it?"

"Today, actually." Reid turned the ignition and the Porsche purred to life. "For my eighteenth-birthday-slash-Ascension gift."

They were racing down the darkening road towards the colony house. It didn't even seem like they were moving if Rebeka didn't look at the blurry landscape outside the car. The engine hummed quietly. It was very different from the roar of the Hummer. Rebeka smiled.

They parked next to Tyler's Hummer and, after one last fond look at the Porsche, Reid led Rebeka into the house.

"Seems like I'm going to have some competition," Rebeka teased.

Reid shook his head. "Believe me; it could never compete with you." They walked hand in hand down to the basement where the others had already started working.

XXX

Rebeka closed the dusty volume and sighed. Nothing. Unless the connections the Parry family had with the farmers were going to help them against Chase. Somehow, she doubted it. She put the old book back on the shelf and took down the next one, which was thankfully only 

about one or two inches thick. She flipped to the first page and saw that it was a diary of some kind. The first entry read:

_December 3, 1682_

_Jonathan and I have decided to meet at the church tonight. Soon, I will no longer be Isabel Drake, but Mrs. Isabel Danvers. Jonathan's parents don't approve of our marriage, but he said he told them that he would rather will away his Power than be unable to marry me. Needless to say, that shocked them. I have decided not to tell Mother and Father, for they would surely have Jonathan put on trial for being a witch. They enjoy persecuting the ones with the Power._

_I believe that with my gift, Jonathan will be able to withstand the aging effect of the Power, unlike his father. We will be so happy together._

That last part sounded a lot like her and Reid, Rebeka thought. She remembered from the last meeting that the Drakes were one of the four Power-sensing families. And this Jonathan Danvers must be some great-great ancestor of Caleb. Rebeka flipped a few more pages.

_September 21, 1683_

_The midwife says the baby will be along any day now. Jonathan is worried that something will go wrong, especially if it is a male, because it will have both my blood with the sensing ability and his Power._

Rebeka flipped to the middle.

_November 14, 1696_

_Jacob has been thirteen for three months now, but he has not shown any sign of his Power. Jonathan believes that the two bloodlines' abilities cancelled each other out and Jacob is as normal as one could be. For some reason, Jonathan seems upset with Jacob's lack of Power. He uses in anger when he thinks I don't know. It hurts me, both because of my gift, and to see him so troubled. I think it makes him sad to realize that the Power in his bloodline has ended now that his first born male doesn't have the Power._

But Caleb was living proof that the Danvers' bloodline still had passed down the Power. Rebeka flipped to the final entry. The words, which were already hard to read because of age, were now splotched as if Isabel had been crying while she wrote.

_October 15, 1701_

_Jonathan's parents have come to see to the funeral arrangements. Jonathan had been severely ill, but he wouldn't use the Power to help himself; he said he didn't want to hurt me. But he told me he had one last plan for Jacob, one last wish._

_He told me that he would will away his Power to Jacob, to see if the bloodline would be able to continue. I knew that Jonathan would surely die if he did this, but he wouldn't hear a word against it._

_It happened while I was in town. I felt it. I hurried home, and found my Jonathan lying on the bed, looking like he was only sleeping. But I knew he had already passed. Jacob was lying on the floor next to the bed, and I shook him, fearing that he had also perished in Jonathan's plan. But he awoke, and in his surprise, he used the Power accidentally. It hurt a bit, but I was so happy knowing Jonathan had gotten his dying wish and Jacob would be able to carry on the bloodline._

_The funeral –_

Rebeka closed the book, staring at the ground. At least it was a happy ending. She looked at Caleb, wondering if the de facto leader of the Sons knew how close he had been to being completely normal. Looking at Pogue, then Tyler, and finally Reid, she wondered if Caleb or any of the other Sons wished they didn't have the Power.

_A/N: ok, I lied, there's going to be one more chapter than I originally planned. I think I'm going to break this chapter up into two parts. This way, I can get more out this week! The next part will be coming later this week (I love Spring Break!), so keep an eye out for email updates!! Oh, and you should know the drill by now – you are down here, and that means…. That's right! You get to review and make me feel special! Love you all!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to whoever copyrighted The Covenant, only in my dreams…**

**PLEASE RR!! Guys, I think I can rightfully say that this is one of my most kick-ass chapters yet, so tell me what you think! Now, on with the show – I'm so excited!!**

Caleb groaned. "I think we should take a break." That idea was seconded by everyone else, and, one by one, they stretched and followed Caleb up the stairs to get away from the dry, dusty air.

Rebeka grabbed Tyler's arm before he could follow Reid. Reid raised an eyebrow, but Rebeka motioned for him to keep going. "I'll be right there." He nodded and joined the others in the living room. "Can I ask you something?" Rebeka asked Tyler.

"Yeah," said Tyler.

Rebeka listened for a moment, making sure that everyone else was out of earshot. "Okay," she said. "I keep coming across references of someone 'willing away their Power'. I kind of get it, but I was hoping you could explain it better."

"Sure," said Tyler. "But why didn't you ask Reid? He knows as well as I do."

"Please Tyler?"

"Alright, just wondering." He ran a hand unconsciously through his spiky dark hair. "So, when someone wills away their Power, they're giving it to someone else."

Rebeka nodded. "I figured that much out."

"But," Tyler continued, "since the Power is basically your life once you Ascend, willing it away is a death sentence. Caleb's father didn't die because he used a lot, although that's definitely a factor. He ultimately died because he willed his Power to Caleb."

Rebeka didn't understand. "Why did he do that?" She could understand why Jonathan Danvers willed his Power to his son Jacob; he was going to die anyway because of whatever illness he had, and he had to make sure the Power in his bloodline continued. But what did Caleb's father have to die for?

Tyler sighed. "Because that was when Caleb was battling Chase. Chase was too powerful, because he already had _his_ father's Power. When Caleb got his father's Power, it sort of evened the playing field; and William Danvers died. Does that clear things up?"

Rebeka nodded slowly, her thoughts all fighting to be thought first. What if… was it possible…?

Tyler seemed to be able to follow her line of thought, probably because her expression was one of deep thought. His eyes widened. "No, don't even think that!"

Rebeka was pulled out of her thoughts by Tyler's unusually harsh command. "But what if it works?" she said stubbornly.

Tyler grabbed her shoulders, his bright blue eyes staring into her green eyes. "No. It's not worth it. We'll find a way, Beka, have faith." Rebeka frowned, but nodded. Tyler waited a moment longer, making sure his point was clear, and then he took her hand and led her upstairs where the others were snacking on the chips and soda Sarah and Kate had brought.

"There you are!" Reid called, reclaiming Rebeka from Tyler. "Baby Boy didn't try to make a move on you, did he?" he growled jokingly.

Rebeka laughed; it was a bit off, but Reid didn't notice. "And have to face the unstoppable wrath of Reid Garwin? I don't think so."

Reid lifted his chin haughtily. "That's what I thought," he teased. Tyler only shrugged and went to the table of refreshments. Reid watched him. "What's his problem?"

"He's probably just a bit tired," Rebeka said, explaining away Tyler's odd behavior. Tiredness had nothing to do with it, she knew.

Everyone jumped at the sudden sound of knocking. "Caleb?" A woman's voice came through the thick wooden door, slightly muffled.

"Coming Mother," he called back.

"I got it, Caleb," said Rebeka, who was closest to the door. She went around the corner and opened the door for Evelyn Danvers.

She didn't even have time to blink.

"Hi-ya, Bek!"

Rebeka felt the heat, felt the rumble, as the Danvers' colony house exploded around her. She landed among the rubble that started to burn and smolder. Bits of ash and paper fluttered to the ground everywhere, making it look like it was snowing black and white flakes.

She heard coughing off to her left, and began to crawl painfully in that direction. She found a hand and followed the arm to a body that was trying to get up. "Tyler!" she coughed, the smoke and ash irritating her throat.

Tyler pushed himself to his knees, and Rebeka saw that the right side of his face was all cut up, the blood smearing with the dirt. She probably didn't look much better, she thought. "Beka!" he cried hoarsely, any anger that he had before completely disappeared. They used each other to climb to their feet unsteadily and looked around ground zero.

On the right, Caleb, Pogue, and Sarah were in various stages of standing, all of them visibly bruised and in pain. Beyond them, a battered and bloody Reid was helping a dazed Kate to her feet.

Maniac laughter began, and everyone looked up. Chase was levitating above the destruction, his black eyes shining gleefully. "Surprise!" he crowed. "Did you miss me?" He landed gracefully on a large pile of charred furniture and ceiling beams. "Garwin! Good to see you; made it through your Ascension, I see!" Chase launched himself off his make-shift pedestal and landed in front of Tyler and Rebeka. He looked at Tyler, and Tyler began to choke, falling hard to his knees and grabbing at his neck.

Rebeka ran at Chase, preparing to put all her weight into the assault as she thrust her fist out.

Chase flicked his hand lazily and Rebeka was sent flying through a barely-there wall, crashing into another pile of charred debris, a few feet away from Reid and Kate.

Having dealt with Tyler, Chase moved slowly towards Caleb's group next, leaving Tyler behind, lying unmoving in the smoking ruins. Caleb moved protectively in front of Sarah, Pogue right next to him, backing him up.

"Well, well, Caleb Danvers; we meet again. Long time no see, eh?"

"You don't have a chance," Pogue snarled, his hazel eyes flashing to black.

"I don't?" Chase threw his hand out and sent Pogue hurtling through the air and smashing into a tree on the far side of the yard, where he crumpled into a motionless heap. Chase smirked and turned back to Caleb. "By the way," he said conversationally, as if he had only paused to flick a fly off his arm, "have you reconsidered since we last met?"

Caleb's eyes turned back in an instant, and he sent a power ball at Chase, hoping to catch him off guard.

Chase caught it easily, and threw it back with much more force, knocking Caleb out and sending him five feet back.

"Caleb!" Sarah cried.

Before she could move, Chase backhanded her and sent her sprawling on the ground next to Caleb. An angry burn reddened on her cheek where he had struck her. "Five down, two to go!" he announced, sauntering over to where the last two were. "Who's next?"

Kate was kneeling next to Rebeka, trying to wake her. The dirt on her dark face was streaked with tears. Reid stood over the both of them, watching Chase warily.

Reid saw Chase's eyes flash, but couldn't react fast enough. Kate moaned and slumped over backwards. "One," Chase whispered. He placed himself squarely in front of Reid, and Reid tensed. "You're alone Reid," Chase said quietly. "No one's going to come to your rescue."

Reid's eyes flashed; next to him Rebeka stirred almost imperceptibly. He could feel the Power just about begging to be released.

"You can save them," Chase continued. "It's simple, really." He looked straight at Reid; two pairs of black eyes stared each other down. "Give me your Power. Give it to me, and the others will live out the rest of their happy little lives, knowing you saved them. Danvers gave that up, but you won't be that stupid, will you? You'll no longer be the misfit; you will be the savior."

A heavy beam soared up behind Chase and flew at Reid. The beam glance off of Reid's quick defense shield as soon as he raised his arms. Chase cast power ball after power ball at Reid, who used more Power to strengthen his shield to deflect the increasingly powerful attacks. Chase showed no sign of relenting.

Rebeka's eyes snapped open. It felt as if her head was being crushed, and simultaneously stabbed. Her hands flew up to her head, trying to squeeze back the suffocating pain. She curled into a ball, trying to breathe.

Chase and Reid both saw her movements, and Chase grinned. "You can stop it, Reid. Give it to me, and she won't have to hurt anymore."

Rebeka gasped at Chase's words. No! He couldn't mean – The surging pain pushed away the rest of the thought, and she groaned loudly.

Reid heard her. He exhaled sharply and squeezed his eyes shut, letting his shield fall and cutting off the flow of Power.

Chase's next attack hit him with more force than he believed possible. It knocked the breath out of him as he crashed to the ground nearly fifty feet from where he had been.

Rebeka saw Reid disappear from view, just as the excruciating pain began to ebb away, and she knew what he had done. Chase paused as he walked past her, shaking his head sadly. "I don't 

see it," he said to himself, but loud enough for Rebeka to hear. He continued towards Reid, who was struggling to get to his knees.

Rebeka knew she had to get up. Ignoring her pounding head, she got to her feet, just in time to see Chase swing his foot into Reid's side, causing the latter to collapse again. She began to run to him, stumbling over the wreckage.

"Say it! Say the words!" Chase shouted angrily, his patience now worn thin.

"NO!" Rebeka screamed. Reid looked at her blurrily, and she saw the answer as she looked into his blue eyes.

"Say it now!" Chase bent down, tired of waiting, and gripped Reid's neck, just to the point that had him gasping.

"NO!" Could she make it in time? They were so far, and she seemed to be going in slow motion.

Reid opened his mouth, trying to get enough breath.

"I will you my power!"

_A/N: dun dun dun! What's gonna happen next?! Whoo! Thanks for all your awesome reviews, they really help me keep going; I love you all dearly! At least 20 more, people! we're making great progress! I can read your mind – you are going to push the 'Go' button! Whoo, I love being right! To quote some other authors, feed the addiction!_ _oh, and by the way, IT'S STEVEN STRAIT'S 22nd B-DAY TOMORROW-- March 23! party!_


	14. Birthday Teaser!

**Disclaimer: they are not mine.**

**This is a teaser that I have decided to put in to make you all hate me! =) not really, please don't hate me, but I needed to get something up so we could have an online party, as suggested by ****TwilightxLove02 for Steven Strait's 22****nd**** birthday! Whoo! So, here's a little present for all you glorious readers that make me laugh and feel so loved with your reviews (12 more! I love it!). oh, could you all review if you haven't yet? I know there are those of you who haven't reviewed – the 160 hits and 8 reviews is kind of a give away. **

**X**

"N—!"

The sky lit up, the wind picked up and swirled the ash back into the air. A ripping noise scratched at the edge of sound, like a constant buzz in the background. Chase's outline was illuminated and he was thrown bodily through the air, crash-landing hard in the rubble.

Seconds later, everything went dark. Chase lay sprawled on the ground on his side, clutching his chest.

A few feet away, Reid lay motionless. The last minute replayed in his head in split-second flashes.

The last attack from Chase hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying –

Chase's kick connecting solidly with his side, and the blood resulting from it trickling out of the corner of his mouth –

The demand to will his Power –

The fearful look in Rebeka's eyes as she tried to reach him, her terrified scream –

The ragged gasps he soon realized were his own while Chase's hand gripped his throat –

The five most powerful words echoing in the night, in his head, stopping his heart…

_A/N: how was that, my lovelies? Are you ready to rip my head off? I'll be getting the next chapter up here in a bit-- two, three days at most. But here I feel obligated to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN!! Yay, I feel good now. Alright, feel free to review as they're always welcome, even if it is only to yell at me for putting a little teaser up :)_


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Covenant. I can try. I have tried. It didn't work. Wa! :(**

**Ok, I am so sorry! I know that teaser was pretty much torture, but I didn't get enough time to write a full chapter for Steven's bday. I know I completely freaked a lot of you out, but listen to me: go read the second sentence. Go on. See? Can I have my head back now? In a kind of sick, twisted way, it was funny reading all the outraged reactions. But, I hope you all can find it in your hearts to forgive me!**

**PLEASE RR!! Please!! We're gonna make it people! We can get well over 100!! Whoo hoo!**

How could… Reid sat up slowly, massaging his neck. It wasn't possible…

_Okay. Get yourself together Garwin. First things first, you're alive. Well, of course you're alive; YOU didn't say the fucking words… Oh. Shit. Oh no – shitshitshit!_

Reid whipped his head around frantically and spotted Rebeka's strawberry-blonde hair. He ran jerkily towards the color, past Chase, who was unsuccessfully trying to roll onto his hands and knees.

Reid fell to his knees once he reached Rebeka's body. "Bek! Bek, don't do this to me! Come on baby!" He gathered her in his arms and rocked back and forth, tears stinging in the gashes on his cheeks. He pressed his face into her soot-covered hair.

Footsteps crunched in the broken debris. "She did it, didn't she?" Tyler's voice rasped, full of pain. Reid didn't have to look to know that his friend also had tears streaming down his face. Tyler sighed angrily. "I told her not to, Reid, I tried to…"

"I didn't think… that was possible…" Reid whispered.

"No one did Reid." Tyler knelt down next to the broken couple.

Groaning came from behind them. Reid's eyes flashed black, and Tyler could almost feel the dangerous anger rolling off him in hot waves.

Suddenly, Reid forced Rebeka's limp form into Tyler's arms and pushed himself up. He stormed over to Chase's groaning figure and roughly kicked back on the ground. He fell to one knee and grabbed two fistfuls of Chase's shirt, lifting him off the ground. "What. Did. You. Do." Reid growled, emphasizing each word with a violent shake that made Chase's head snap back each time.

"Nothing," Chase whimpered quietly.

"Yes you did!" Reid roared, the fiery circles sparking in his eyes. "She's gone – she's gone and it your fault!" Reid threw Chase to the ground.

Chase coughed as the breath was knocked out of him. He glared at Reid, and then his eyes grew wide. "No," he muttered hysterically, "no, it's not possible! What did she do?!"

Reid narrowed his eyes as he watched Chase's panicked monologue. "What the fuck are you on about?"

"My – my Power…" Chase grabbed at his chest, and then looked at Reid with fearful, blank eyes. "It's gone…" He looked as if he was about to pass out.

Reid spun around. "Tyler –?"

"I heard!" Tyler called back, his expression puzzled. He looked at the girl in his arms. "What did you do to him?" he asked quietly.

There were moans and coughing, other than Chase, starting up around them. The others were beginning to regain consciousness now that the spell Chase had used to keep them knocked out was gone. They staggered and limped their way over to where Tyler was kneeling. Tears started to fall silently down Sarah's and Kate's faces when they saw Rebeka in Tyler's arms. They sought the comfort of their boyfriends, who just stared at the two scenes in front of them; Tyler and Rebeka, and Chase and Reid.

"What happened?" Caleb croaked.

Tyler shook his head. "She… she willed her gift – her power to him. He's Powerless, Caleb. She did it."

Pogue's jaw dropped. Sarah closed her eyes and buried her face into Caleb's chest. Kate looked from Rebeka to Chase. Caleb nodded sadly and looked at Reid, who was staring angrily at Chase again, shaking visibly.

"It's your fault," Reid murmured. His breathing quickened; he felt the control slip. "IT'S YOUR FAULT!" Chase's mouth began opening and closing; he couldn't get a breath. His lips formed words, but no sound came out as he felt his airways constricting. "You just made my life a living hell," Reid said quietly, his voice dangerous. "I'm going to make sure yours is too." He smirked, but there was none of his arrogant humor in it. "At least it'll be short." Chase's eyes bulged.

"Caleb!" Kate cried. "Caleb, Reid's going to kill him!"

"Reid!" Caleb ran to him, grabbing his shoulders. "Reid, stop it!" Reid's emotionless black eyes stayed fixed on the thrashing figure in front of him.

"No."

Caleb stepped between Reid and Chase, forcing Reid to look at him. "Rebeka wouldn't want you to become a killer."

Reid looked away from Caleb's dark eyes. Caleb was right, he was always right. He took a shaky breath, and his black eyes slowly became blue again. He turned away, and he and Caleb walked back to the others, leaving Chase winded where he had collapsed. Reid silently took Rebeka's chillingly still body from Tyler and carried her out of the wreckage to his car. He placed her carefully in the passenger's seat, and then drove out on to the road. He stared at the road, forcing his mink to stay empty. He glanced at the clock. _Ten._

The Aarons' house was dark as he pulled into the driveway. There was a white square stuck to the door. _Out with Sandra. Don't stay up too late._

Reid went back to the car and gathered Rebeka in his arms again. Seconds later, he stood at the foot of the bed in her dark room. He wasn't sure why he had brought her back here. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.

He laid her on the bed and rubbed his face before sitting next to her, taking her hand in his. "Bek," he moaned quietly. "What am I going to do? I… I'm not strong enough without you… it's going to consume me…" He felt hot tears finally start to slide down his cheeks. "I'm… I'm afraid," he whispered. He brought her hand up and pressed his lips to it. He rested his head on the wall behind him. He squeezed Rebeka's hand, and, closing his eyes, he could feel her squeezing back.

"Did it work?"

Reid jolted upright. "Bek?" He was hearing things. Her eyes were still closed; nothing appeared to have changed. No, it was only wishful thinking… That realization didn't help.

"Reid?" The word was only as loud as a light breeze.

He looked back at her pale face, and choked back a startled shout.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she searched for his face, sighing, tiredly happy, when she found him.

"Bek? Jesus Christ, Bek!" He brought himself down to her level, stroking her cheek, and kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips, her neck, over and over.

"Reid," she moaned softly.

He stopped and looked at her. "Rebeka, what were you thinking?" He cupped her face in his hand.

"Did it work?" she asked again.

"You could have died. I thought you _had_ died." He resumed his earlier kisses.

"How long was I out?"

He paused only a second to answer, "Long enough."

"I knew it'd work either way."

Reid stopped again. "No you didn't."

Rebeka smiled softly. "Alright, but I was _pretty_ sure."

"I am going to lock you up the next time some crazy-ass freak threatens us again."

"You try that."

Reid shook his head, and let his hands run over her body. He touched his lips to hers tenderly and then moved down her jaw line to her neck. "Are you up for going somewhere?" he murmured against her skin.

"Hey, I wasn't done with you yet," Rebeka complained.

Reid laughed. "More later, I promise. As much as I'd like to keep you right here to myself right now, I don't think it'd be fair to let the others keep on thinking you're dead."

Rebeka flinched slightly. "I'm sorry."

"Just promise me you won't do something that stupid again," said Reid as he helped her stand.

"I promise," she sighed, leaning against him.

"Alright. Here we go."

Rebeka gasped. They were suddenly standing in a familiar hall. Soft murmurs were coming from the open doors of the drawing room of the Danvers' mansion.

Reid stepped into view first, and the talking stopped.

"Reid, I –" Tyler began, but stopped, his eyes as wide as everyone else's.

Reid had pulled Rebeka to his side and they entered the room. Rebeka smiled shyly. "I'm so sorry for scaring all of you. Can you forgive me?"

"Of – of course," said Caleb.

Rebeka looked at Tyler. "Ty, I'm sorry. I know you told me not to, but there wasn't an alternative."

"That wasn't a very well thought out plan," Tyler scolded gently. "But what matters now is that you're alive."

"And she already promised not to do any other stupid things," Reid put in. The others smiled gratefully.

Caleb broke the short silence. "Rebeka, how did you do it? Willing it away… you should be dead."

With a glance at Reid, Rebeka launched into the formation of her plan. "Well, I guess it started out during out little study parties. I kept coming across references of someone willing away their Power. I knew that's what Chase wanted Caleb to do, and I figured people like Chase don't change too much, so he was going to go after Reid's Power like he did with Caleb.

"I started to pay more attention to the entries that had to do with willing away the Power, and I got the basic idea: you're giving it to someone else to use.

"But today, I found a diary of sorts from Isabel Danvers – who's maiden name was Drake." Rebeka paused to let the significance sink in. "She married Jonathan Danvers, who had the Power. They had a son, but when Jacob turned thirteen, he didn't have the Power. She explained Jonathan's theory: that since Jacob had both her gift and the Power in him, they cancelled each other out, and he was completely normal."

"But Caleb got the Power," said Pogue.

Rebeka nodded. "Jonathan willed his Power to Jacob on his death bed in a last-ditch effort to restore the bloodline, which obviously worked.

"The fact that Jacob Danvers had no abilities and the whole willing-away-the-Power deal got me thinking. The way to beat Chase was to somehow keep him from using.

"I asked Tyler to explain more about willing away the Power. What I learned from him was that once you say the words, you're as good as dead.

"But we were running out of time – Chase wasn't going to wait forever. It seemed simple enough: all I had to do was try to will away my gift to Chase, and, assuming it worked, his Power and mine would cancel each other out, leaving him Powerless." She turned to Tyler. "I think you guessed what I planned to do."

Tyler nodded. "Basically."

"I knew there was a good chance I would die, but it was a risk I was willing to take if it would help you guys. Only, Chase showed up a bit earlier than expected and I had to act. That's it," Rebeka finished and bit her lip, waiting for a response.

"We're lucky it worked," Caleb said finally, sitting back in his chair. "We're also lucky you already promised not to do anything like that again."

Rebeka grimaced. "I promise; never again." She tried to stifle a yawn, but Reid saw it.

"You need to go home now and sleep. It's been a trying day, to say the least." He waved to the others and wrapped his arms around her.

The bed creaked. Once again, they were sitting in Rebeka's dark room.

"Whoa," Rebeka breathed. "I have to admit, it's pretty cool when it's not hurting."

Reid chuckled and pulled her close, resting his chin on her head.

"Hey, I just realized something," said Rebeka after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"You… you can use all you want now. I won't get hurt."

"I can, can't I? But I won't. You'd still get hurt."

"Why? How?"

"How: you never saw what happened to Caleb's mom. His father became addicted, and she had to watch him slowly destroy himself. It wasn't a pretty change." He brought his lips to her ear. "And as for why," Reid whispered, "there's not much of a point; I don't need to."

"Why?" Rebeka smiled against his shoulder.

Reid turned his head, kissed her temple, and whispered back, "Because I already have all I need. I have you."

_A/N: a happy, cheesy ending, I know, but I could not resist! Alas, all good things must come to an end, my loves. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. So now that the end has come, I know you will do your civic duty and review! I love you all!! I think I may have a sketch of an idea for another story, but it may be a bit. Oh, and one last thing before you push the 'Go' button, I had fun and made a picture that I could email you if you like (It's got Reid, of course!); so if you'd like to see it, tell me and I'll get it to ya!_


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